I didn’t graduate college. I’m the only kid in my family that didn’t. I dropped out after a year and a half.
During my 12 years working a corporate job, it was drilled into my head over and over that I needed a degree to advance. I never took it to heart. My actual thought was ‘You poor idiots, tying your existence to a college degree’. I never saw a degree as the thing that my success hinged on.
My parents were disappointed and alarmed.
Don’t get me wrong, I love learning. I read every day. I push myself to learn new things. I try things for myself to see if they work for me. If I don’t understand how something works, I figure it out. I just hate the whole classroom setting. I hate learning information I don’t need or want in order to fulfill some requirement for a piece of paper.
Things I have learned:
How to make yogurt (it’s so easy)
How to hang, mud and sand drywall
How to navigate parts diagrams for marine engines
How to gracefully say no
How to process various tax forms necessary for our business
How to write a blog
How to run Facebook Ads
How to test electrical continuity
How to wire an electrical outlet
How to install a dishwasher
How to check my tire pressure and fill them correctly
I learn practical stuff that I can use on a day to day basis. I think my brain has a limited amount of free space and I don’t want to fill it will parallelograms or the state capitals. I want information that is practical, useful and purposeful.
I don’t regret taking the less popular fork in the road. I knew way back then that this was the road for me. I have never regretted my decision to drop out of college. I could see down the road that I was not going to take the traditional path and I’m glad I stuck to my decision at that fork in the road.
