Education is Important – But Don’t Pass a Good Opportunity, Either

I was watching “106 & Park” yesterday, and they were interviewing track-running medal winners from the 2008 Olympics.  After a few regular questions – “How did it feel to win gold/silver/bronze?” or “What was it like in Beijing?” – they asked one of the participants the following para-phrased question:

“So, we hear that you turned down a bunch of multi-million dollar endorsement deals so that you could go back to school and get your degree.  What made you decide to go back to school?”

And his answer, para-phrased by me:

“Well, my Mom taught me that getting a degree is important, and I figured that if those endorsement deals are good, they’ll still be there for me once I finish college.”

I looked at the screen, and thought to myself: “Wow… what a DUMB-ASS!!”

What a friggin’ dummy!  This young guy had a chance to make a mound of millions… and he decided to go back to school?!?  WTF??

Now, those of you who know me already know that I’m not exactly the pitch man to go to when it comes to telling kids to go to school or finish up college.  Yes, I went to college and graduated, but not necessarily because I wanted to.  I went because, when I was on the verge of graduating high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do, and figured college would give me some stalling time to figure it out.

As for this guy, though, he is ALREADY skilled at something that will make him TONS of money.  And, as much as some people may not like to admit it, the only reason most of us go to school is to earn money.

“But Aaron, I’m going to school to become a lawyer/nurse/teacher so I can help people!” 

That’s great – but let me ask you: if you found out you wouldn’t be getting paid to do any of those jobs, would you still be in school learning about them?  I didn’t think so!

The reason this guy turned down the checks – the MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR checks – is because he, like millions of other kids, have been brainwashed by society into thinking that going to school is the end-all, be-all sign of success.  Consequently, when an opportunity comes along to be successful without the help of a school setting, a person’s brain will automatically get nervous and say “Man, that opportunity sure looks good.. but I just HAVE to get that degree so I can say I’m really successful.”

I. Call. BULLCRAP!!

But I understand how the brain works, so even though his decision is absolutely stupid to me, I can understand why he made it. Think about it, people: since birth, he, like the rest of us, has been told day in and day out for at least 18 years the following phrases:

“In order to be successful, you have to go to college.”

“You won’t really BE anything unless you get that diploma!”

“If you don’t go to college, you’ll break my heart (usually said by the parents, especially moms.”

“Boy, you had BETTER go to college and make me proud!”

“Remember: good grades = a better future!”

Now, if you’re hearing this kind of rhetoric over and over for 18 years straight… and then someone comes along on the day of your high school graduation and says, “Hey so-and-so, we think you have the looks/talent/skills to do such-and-such, and would like to give you MILLIONS of dollars to help us out…”

Which action do you think the person is more likely to take? The action of running with the millions and saying “Forget college, I’m RICH!” or the action of “Gee, it sounds tempting… but if I lose it, I’ll have nothing to fall back on.  Plus, I gotta make my parents proud… so I’ll turn down the offer?”

Again, it’s logic vs. training. Logically, it makes more sense to take the offer and hire an accountant to help you deal with your new income.  But training-wise, it makes more “sense” to stay on the school path, and hope that the opportunity is still good after 4 years.

Well, I got news for you: those opportunities don’t come around everyday, and there’s no guarantee they’ll be there tomorrow. 

Right now, this kid is a track SUPERSTAR.  The Olympics only ended a few weeks ago, and, contrary to what this kid thinks, just because he’s getting these offers now doesn’t mean he’ll have them again after he graduates.  Heck, he might not get them again until 4 years from now when the next summer Olympics start – that’s usually when they start showing commercials on TV again featuring past Olympic athletes.

But even with those future opportunities being there, you never know what will happen during those four years.  He could go back to school, and get hit by a bus on his very first day back to class, fracturing his legs to the point of permanent damage.  Now he won’t be able to run in any of those commercials he was once being sought for, and all his endorsement deals could be taken away from the table.

Look, people: I’m not saying education isn’t important.  What I AM saying, though, is that people need to get it out of their heads that going to college is the ONLY way to be a smashing success in life. 

Millions of people have avoided the whole “college” thing and been uber-successful; millions of people have also finished up college, and are nowhere near as successful or making as much money as they were told they’d make as a result of going. Yet, these same people will advocate the same rhetoric – “Go to school and be somebody” – because it’s all they ever heard growing up, and it’s the only advice they know how to give.

It all boils down to knowing when you have a good opportunity right there in front of you, and taking it THEN, not at some future date when the opportunity may or may not be around.

As for this track star: what a DUMBASS. 

Even if he DID want to go back to school, he could have taken a semester or two off, done six months of endorsement deals, and had a clean ride for the rest of his time in school.  You can always go back to school, but you can’t get your youth back, and you can’t always get back offers being given to you in the now.

Dumb-ass.

-Aaron P. Taylor