To Degree or Not to Degree… That is The Question
Read More: What happened to the great and legendary houses of learning? Why does it seem that the institutions we have today are but mere shadows of these forums of truth and wisdom? Today there are many people who say you will never get anywhere in life without a college degree, that a college ‘education’ is important no matter what you do with your life. Then there are an increasing number of very successful people, many who have gone through the gamut of college education themselves who say it’s all bogus. That you don’t need to go to college, it was not a deciding factor in what made them successful, and who say that it is a waste of time and money. Let us take a look at the origins of the schooling that most of us consider to be prerequisite to the rest of our lives.
Origins of ‘Formal’ Education.
Colleges and universities originally date back to the days of the European Renaissance. They flourished after civilization emerged from the Dark Ages where suppression of learning, sciences, and art were all too commonplace, and the church’s draconian stranglehold on knowledge, was phased into the past. Originally, these were not ‘schools’ at all. Schools as we think of them today did not exist, and education was always independent. You got it where you could find it or afford it, from private tutors that your parents paid for, the master you apprenticed under, and anyone else who knew something of value that you could get for a trade of something that they valued, be it gold or the knowing that you would carry on their work and legacy after they were dead and gone, and would be obligated to work for them for a number of years after your apprenticeship was finished to ‘pay’ for your ‘tuition’.
The original colleges and universities were in all actuality houses of masterminding, a place where scholars and learned men could get together and learn from each other in lecture halls, meetings, and demonstrations. They could collect the works of others into a library, put down their own work into that library as well, and have a place – a standing, hard-copy database if you will, being in the absence of the internet – for whatever knowledge they found, discovered for themselves, and wanted to pass on to those who would follow them in years to come. There were no degrees, or tests, or standards of certification. All were equal in the forums and houses of learning, be they a prince or pauper. Real life was the test, and a piece of paper was only a piece of paper no matter whose signature was on it, your credentials were your competence in the field, and the respect you had earned from your fellow man, not simply a piece of paper that was signed by someone who was supposedly an ‘expert’, that oft times has little successful real world application of what they are teaching. After all, how many financial advisors and professors of economics are actually wealthy themselves? And if they are not wealthy, do they really have any business teaching ANYONE how to do something that they themselves have not accomplished?
Enter the Modern Era
What do we have now? Where have these houses of masterminding gone? Sometime in the 20th century, we began to think – with the rise of the new government-run and mandated “education system” – that an education meant school, not knowledge. Moreover, people now believe that knowledge has to be specialized; you have to have a degree in a subject, or you don’t really have any business saying anything about it at all. That you cannot possibly know what you are talking about in regards to a subject unless you have a degree in it, regardless of how you have used that subject, or mastered it’s application in the real world that is outside the cloistered walls of the university.
Nowadays, degrees don’t mean near what they used to. They only mean that you got a fair amount of correct answers on a standardized multiple-choice ‘test’, that you completed the required class work, (whether you actually learned anything from the work or not seems irrelevant to the instructors), and that after all your years of perseverance and practice of rote memorization and regurgitation of subjects that you neither learned nor benefited much from, you finally got a little piece of paper with the signature of someone who is supposedly important on it. Forgive me for being so direct, but what did you actually learn in those years of thinking inside someone else’s standard-sized box in order to get that all-important piece of paper? What does this mean for you once you graduate from college? Is it helping you make yourself financially independent?
Lest anyone jump to the conclusion that I did not excel at what we commonly consider education, I graduated from high school with a 3.9 (out of 4.0), making the Dean’s list, and I maintained a 3.6 (Which is an A average) in college, majoring in Marine Biology.
Is an education important? Yes, obviously, that’s self-evident. But does it need to be college ‘schooling’ for you to be prosperous and happy and successful? Not necessarily. Anyone with a C+ average can attend and graduate from school – even college – with all kinds of financial aid and grants available to anyone with a pulse. What you need to actually excel is the right kind of education, and to seek it out wherever you can find it. You need quality over quantity. Napoleon Hill, in his great book ‘Think and Grow Rich’ states that if we had the right kind of education, useful in the real world, conventional schooling would be able to be cut in almost half, and people would graduate empowered and productive. I think he was on to something.
But Where Can I Get a REAL Education?
If you want to succeed, if you want to prosper, you need to start re-creating the essence of Ye Olde Universities and start gathering true knowledge. Stuff your hard-drive with cut-&-copied articles and e-books you’ve found from successful people in the industry you wish to flourish in, load your physical bookshelves with the right books, CDs, and DVDs. Go to events, conference calls and webinars. You know how everyone in the know in this industry talks about value? Well this is how you do it, collect it, be a part of it, and offer it freely to others. If you can offer someone just ONE thing of true value that they do not know, you will have served them well and taught them something that could very well change their paradigm, and in turn, their life.
Study the individuals in history who were successful and learn from them, and a great place to start is “Think and Grow Rich,” by Napoleon Hill, which if you like, you can get here: http://www.voydas.ws
It is a compilation of over 25 years of Hill’s research spanning 500 of the most successful businessmen, industrialists, and entrepreneurs in the history of America. You would do well to study and emulate the ways of the successful people who came before you.
Study also the methods and works of the great modern network moneymakers, too, like Mike Dillard, Donald Trump, Jay Kubassek, Robert T. Kiyosaki, etc., and go to the source of their success, where did they start? How did they get to where they are today?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is how you get your real Master’s Degree.
Make this day awesome!
Rebecca Voyda
(Permission given to freely distribute as long as the entire document, author credit, and website links are included in their entirety.)
Views: 1,168
| 
Comments: 21 
About the Author: Rebecca Voyda
Member Since: 10/08/2009
Company: MLM Glory
Industry: No Industry Selected
Primary Web Site: http://www.voydas.com
Great post!
In the community I came from there is a belief that a college education is the end-all-to-be-all. They concentrate more on the bennies of college and the "prestige" more than the road it takes to get there. As a result, some kids focus more on that and only "do enough to get by" and don't actually learn a thing whether they graduate or not.
The main purpose of college is to LEARN, period! There's nothing wrong with that. But people seem to think they will "make all kinds of good money" once they graduate. What they fail to realize is the "education of life" is just as important as what they learned in a classroom. If you don't learn that lesson, you don't move forward in this world, guaranteed (and it don't matter what you have or don't have).
There's more to be said for the people who went beyond learning in the classroom, no matter what college level degree they have.
I have my bachelor's degree, and benefitted from it in some of the industries I worked in. But I would not have benefitted if I did not have the right qualifications or training after college. My degree alone would not have gotten me in the door of a couple of the companies I worked for.
Now I'm in the online network community industry and LEARNING MORE!
Thanks for the post Rebecca!
Profound
This is something... New age is not "new", it is like updated knowledge and you bring it to light in such a chewable form in this article. Those hundreds of times my mother has almost forced me to go and get a degree I´ve never got into fight with her because I´ve known intuitively that things are changing like you pointed out here. Great post, thanks!
Pekka
Are Colleges Becoming Irrelevant?
Interesting post. College is certainly not for everyone. Quite a few students would be ahead of the game by using their time building up the skills they will require for whatever profession or trade they intend to pursue.
Angela
So Many Ways To Be Successful
Great post Rebecca, there are so many ways to become successful. People can easily find the teachings of successful people who have done it. Not everybody wants to just sell you something which is why people sometimes hold back on true education. By encouraging the path that successful people follow students will find tons of free and low cost methods worth the price of gold. It can be a real eye opener.
Rick
the question :)
wow, this is a GREAT article, i enjoyed it very much and felt it touched on a point that is often forgot, to me, it says it's not what you know, but how you know it, that counts :) i think a college degree, if you get one, to use an old pun, is just a piece of the puzzle :)
The TRUE houses of learning...
Are right HERE on Better Networker, and places like this. HERE is where the true 'houses of masterminding' exist in today's world, not the stuffy halls of the universities.
I congratulate EVERYONE who has chosen to be here and take personal responsibility for their, and their family's financial future. You will be true heroes to your children and they will have someone worth looking up to!
On a funny note, which do you think will produce more millionaires in the next 5 years? Better Networker, or Harvard? ;)
There are many types of learning....
The end of my formal education came out of a trade school background and prepared me for my trade of patternmaking only, but all of my further education has come from being self taught in all of the occupations that I have been involved in either through experience of on the job training or from books.
The problem is that people who are looking for a job these days that without the official piece of paper find it difficult to win the position. As you get older here in Australia a lifetime of experience with out the qualification just doesn't cut it.
I love the education that I am receiving on this site.
One of the best books I have read in recent years is I think Robert T. Kiyosaki's first book "If You Want to Be Rich and Happy Don't Go to School". It is well worth a read, first published in 1991
No Higher Education Needed
It's funny the company that I work with has many people earning over $300,000 per year without any college education whatsoever. Desire, persistence and determination are the courses taught to become successful in MLM. This industry will allow any person to accomplish their goals, unlike the corporate business world where it can be sometimes impossible to achieve your dreams.
learning
Personally I think life is a life long learning process no matter what road you choose you will face difficultys and its what you make out of it.as an 18 year old I will be graduating and going to college college next year because the world is a competitive place.even though I am doing well with my business now it,its never to late or bad to advance yourself in other things
What The Schools Don't Teach...
Rebecca... an amazing article. Very uplifting, inspiring and educational! A big thumbs up!
I will add Napoleon Hill's book to my list and library. Another great book I would like to recommend is Robert Kiyosaki's 'Rich Dad Poor Dad'. A huge eye opener! Having an education is very important... BUT it is not enough! What the schools do not teach is about MONEY.
We are taught to get a good education and get a good job... that is all you need to be successful. Guess what... IT IS NOT WORKING! Instead, Robert teaches how to have our money work hard for us.
I do not want to spoil the book by giving too much info. I strongly recommend it... it is definitely wisdom for the mind.
Thanks for a wonderful article, Rebecca!
Peoplestring Is the Four YEAR plan instead of the Forty Year Pla
Like Facebook But Better
A Social Network that
PAYS you to use it.
FREE to sign up and
you will make money.
Like FACEBOOK, but you get paid!
Fortunes Will Be Made
Ever wish you had been in on Google,
Facebook or Yahoo in the beginning?
Fortunes were made then...
It's not too late....
A new internet giant is here.
This is the company that is destined to put the web into your hands.You get real time interactive training from our team.
We are looking for partners.
It's a simple concept.
It's a brilliant business plan.
It's a powerful money making idea.
REMEMBER IT'S FREE
GET PAID 6 LEVELS
FORTUNES WILL BE MADE HERE
Join PeopleString For Free And Make Money!
Typically the phrases "Join for Free" and "Make Money" don't go hand in hand, except in the case I'm about to share with you.
Like you, though, I dreamed of an opportunity that would be free and one where you could actually make money and fast!
Well, that day is here!
http://www.joinpeoplestring.org
What Is This New Social Media Site All About?
It's about the advertising revenues that sites like Facebook profit from, but that are never shared with the Facebook community. With this new site they share the advertising revenues with their entire online community. Hoe cool is that?!
What Do You Have To Do To Earn Money?
Do what you normally do. Like with Facebook, you can email your friends, send links to funny sites, chat online, upload photos and videos to be shared with your friends. As you log on to the site, you generate "people points" and those translate to dollars.
So come on and join today!
http://www.joinpeoplestring.org
Great Fundraiser for Schools, PTA, Churches, Non-Profits!
Great Fundraiser
For Schools, PTA, Churches, Non-Profits, Etc.
RECEIVE Postcards From Advertisers
IN YOUR POSTAL MAILBOX
and
GET PAID!
Do Something You Already Do And Get Paid
How it Works……It's Easy
• User takes a 7-minute survey on PeopleString that helps build Your Personal Marketing Profile
• User opts in to the maximum number of offers they would like to receive each day via traditional mail or email.
• PeopleString marketing partners Pay You to receive their offers. You can see a report on PeopleString with the offers and payouts that you are receiving.
You will receive offers in your mailbox with the PeopleString logo on the envelope. Some marketers will offer extra money to read their mail and enter a unique code on PeopleString.com.
Finally Junk Mail Is Worth Cash In Hand!
FREE TO JOIN
GET PAID
TO RECEIVE
SNAIL MAIL
http://www.joinpeoplestring.org
Great Post!
Went to College, got the Degree.
Started my own business, learned as I went. Got my teeth kicked in at times, had some success at times.
I never understood why you couldn't dive right in with your major area of study until I realized they charge MONEY for English 101 :)
If you don't have the basics down, you wouldn't pass the entrance exams. It's a racket.
YOU are in charge of your own education.
Live the Dream!
Tim
The Four Year Plan Rocks!!
Hello Mr. Dave Zuro,
I am posting this reply to say your right! MLM is the best way to to create a residual income. What is it that you do? I do not sell anything nor need to. This new social media site is changing the way people use social networking.
Like Facebook But Better
A Social Network that
PAYS you to use it.
FREE to sign up and
you will make money.
Like FACEBOOK, but you get paid!
Fortunes Will Be Made
Ever wish you had been in on Google,
Facebook or Yahoo in the beginning?
Fortunes were made then...
It's not too late....
A new internet giant is here.
This is the company that is destined to put the web into your hands.You get real time interactive training from our team.
We are looking for partners.
It's a simple concept.
It's a brilliant business plan.
It's a powerful money making idea.
REMEMBER IT'S FREE
GET PAID 6 LEVELS
FORTUNES WILL BE MADE HERE
Join PeopleString For Free And Make Money!
Typically the phrases "Join for Free" and "Make Money" don't go hand in hand, except in the case I'm about to share with you.
Like you, though, I dreamed of an opportunity that would be free and one where you could actually make money and fast!
Well, that day is here!
http://www.joinpeoplestring.org
What Is This New Social Media Site All About?
It's about the advertising revenues that sites like Facebook profit from, but that are never shared with the Facebook community. With this new site they share the advertising revenues with their entire online community. Hoe cool is that?!
What Do You Have To Do To Earn Money?
Do what you normally do. Like with Facebook, you can email your friends, send links to funny sites, chat online, upload photos and videos to be shared with your friends. As you log on to the site, you generate "people points" and those translate to dollars.
So come on and join today!
http://www.joinpeoplestring.org
Great Fundraiser for Schools, PTA, Churches, Non-Profits!
Great Fundraiser
For Schools, PTA, Churches, Non-Profits, Etc.
RECEIVE Postcards From Advertisers
IN YOUR POSTAL MAILBOX
and
GET PAID!
Do Something You Already Do And Get Paid
How it Works……It's Easy
• User takes a 7-minute survey on PeopleString that helps build Your Personal Marketing Profile
• User opts in to the maximum number of offers they would like to receive each day via traditional mail or email.
• PeopleString marketing partners Pay You to receive their offers. You can see a report on PeopleString with the offers and payouts that you are receiving.
You will receive offers in your mailbox with the PeopleString logo on the envelope. Some marketers will offer extra money to read their mail and enter a unique code on PeopleString.com.
Finally Junk Mail Is Worth Cash In Hand!
FREE TO JOIN
GET PAID
TO RECEIVE
SNAIL MAIL
http://www.joinpeoplestring.org
Mr. Barry White
Robert kiyosaki does have some helpful information. I read "Rich Dad,Poor Dad" when I was younger. I bought the book "Rich Kid, Smart Kid" for my daughters. The funny thing is they aren't old enough to read yet.
I saw this post and thought I would be able to introduce you to the social networking site that is fun, free, and easy to do.
Like Facebook But Better
A Social Network that
PAYS you to use it.
FREE to sign up and
you will make money.
Like FACEBOOK, but you get paid!
Fortunes Will Be Made
Ever wish you had been in on Google,
Facebook or Yahoo in the beginning?
Fortunes were made then...
It's not too late....
A new internet giant is here.
This is the company that is destined to put the web into your hands.You get real time interactive training from our team.
We are looking for partners.
It's a simple concept.
It's a brilliant business plan.
It's a powerful money making idea.
REMEMBER IT'S FREE
GET PAID 6 LEVELS
FORTUNES WILL BE MADE HERE
Join PeopleString For Free And Make Money!
Typically the phrases "Join for Free" and "Make Money" don't go hand in hand, except in the case I'm about to share with you.
Like you, though, I dreamed of an opportunity that would be free and one where you could actually make money and fast!
Well, that day is here!
http://www.joinpeoplestring.org
What Is This New Social Media Site All About?
It's about the advertising revenues that sites like Facebook profit from, but that are never shared with the Facebook community. With this new site they share the advertising revenues with their entire online community. Hoe cool is that?!
What Do You Have To Do To Earn Money?
Do what you normally do. Like with Facebook, you can email your friends, send links to funny sites, chat online, upload photos and videos to be shared with your friends. As you log on to the site, you generate "people points" and those translate to dollars.
So come on and join today!
http://www.joinpeoplestring.org
Great Fundraiser for Schools, PTA, Churches, Non-Profits!
Great Fundraiser
For Schools, PTA, Churches, Non-Profits, Etc.
RECEIVE Postcards From Advertisers
IN YOUR POSTAL MAILBOX
and
GET PAID!
Do Something You Already Do And Get Paid
How it Works……It's Easy
• User takes a 7-minute survey on PeopleString that helps build Your Personal Marketing Profile
• User opts in to the maximum number of offers they would like to receive each day via traditional mail or email.
• PeopleString marketing partners Pay You to receive their offers. You can see a report on PeopleString with the offers and payouts that you are receiving.
You will receive offers in your mailbox with the PeopleString logo on the envelope. Some marketers will offer extra money to read their mail and enter a unique code on PeopleString.com.
Finally Junk Mail Is Worth Cash In Hand!
FREE TO JOIN
GET PAID
TO RECEIVE
SNAIL MAIL
http://www.joinpeoplestring.org
Hijacking Article
David,
Please get half a clue and stop hijacking people's articles with your endless Peoplestring spam. Not only are you being extremely unprofessional and rude, you are making sure NO ONE will want to join you in ANY business endeavors from here forward. Go read the 'How to Not Use Better Networker' thread, I think it was written with you in mind. You are also giving Peoplestring a very bad name by your actions. You spammed this article thread not once, but THREE times. Get a clue, friend.
Well Written
Rebecca, You hit the nail on the head a couple of times in this article. Often times I think of the time and money I wasted on college classes that I was required to take that had no life value or application to my profession.
It is really sad that all that time and energy is wasted! It is even sadder that John Q Public always seems to give more prestige to the college graduate!!!
It is said best by the brilliant Jim Rohn: Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.
Keep the great content flowing!
Class of 2010...
Rebecca, your thoughts are spot on.
As a graduating senior from the University of California, Irvine, I have seen it all.
The grad students who don't know why they're still in school.
The constant party-goers who seem to do everything but study.
The slew of bio majors who are in college because "their parents told them to."
The complete incompetence of some teachers and TAs. Why are they even teaching? They seem to hate it with a passion.
The complete and utter "disconnect" between students and professors. It seems like my generation is full of kids who are going to school because they never "learned" about other ways to live a fruitful life. They just float through college, as if it didn't matter, and don't make the effort to at least get to know their professors (the good ones!)
I can honestly say that about 75% or more people do not pay attention in class, if they come to class at all!
Hey, even Mike Dillard even admitted that he just attended class for the Midterms and Finals.
If there is one thing that has angered me the most about college, it is that they extol the virtues of grandiose and nonessential verbiage.
(They say big words are good.)
I just finished writing 2 5-page essays in high-polluting language, and even right now, I am writing in big words and complex sentence structures.
I'm studying copywriting right now and I'm trying to unlearn all the linguistic nonsense and academic silliness that I learned in "writing classes."
Having said all that, would I still say that my 3 years in college (I'm graduating early at the age of 20!) were a complete waste of time?
Absolutely not.
Although most of my professors and TAs were horrible, the ones who stood out were completely amazing. They simply oozed enthusiasm and truly cared about the success of their students.
And by far one of my favorite classes was run by 3 CEOs where we would, in a team, craft business plans and presentations and present them to the class as if we were getting potential investors! Pure gold!
And the friends and relationships I have built during college are so great. Could I have developed meaningful and long-lasting relationships out of college and without the $30,000 price tag?
Probably.
But they're still my friends. =]
As for credentials, as of right now I have a 3.403 GPA but will most likely have a 3.6-3.7 by the time I graduate. I averaged 16-20 units in college (quarter system).
So my advice for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial parents is that if you want to go to college or you want your child to go to college, make sure that they are actually going because they honestly want to learn, not simply because they don't know what they want to do with their life!
Let them take a year off. Travel the world!
And while they're traveling, put a copy of Think And Grow Rich into their rucksack.
Because their travel experience will probably more educational and inspirational than anything you could absorb from a lecture hall.
=]
Great Article!!
Well i have to disagree and agree the reason I say this is i miss a lot of high paying job that could have help me build my business a lot quick but that OK i have learn a lot and I'm ready to go now
It depends
It definitely depends on what you're trying to achieve. You need a degree if you want to be a doctor or a professor. Although you do not need a degree to be a successful Internet marketer or a businessman, schooling can help a lot in giving you the foundation of how to get there easily.
Interesting Post Rebecca..
I agree with you that you don't have to have a college degree to be successful.
But, I also believe that it comes down to what success mean to you.
People go to college for various reasons, may be they told to do so by their parents, just follow the masses, don't know anything better to do or they really want to pursue a career.
As parents.. (believe some of you are!) we have to encourage our children to do what they are passionate and will enjoy doing. So the ultimate goal is for them to have a life and lifestyle they enjoy.
I also think that any form of education is important and will not be a waste of time. It will come to help you in one form or the other.
All the best
Damayanthi
College Education = Success?
Great article, Rebbecca.
There are a few people that exist which still feel a college education is still the road to success (my wife included in this bunch).
But we all know how many very successful wealthy people that have never finished college and have put their mark in business and society -- Bill Gates is one that comes to mind.
To Your Success!