Histories and Futures

Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, George Harisson, George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Grover Cleveland, Harry S Truman, Mark Twain, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Gore Vidal, and Marilyn Monroe. Any of those names sound familiar? They all have somthing in common too: they didn't go to college. I'm not saying that if you do go to college you won't be successful I just think that people should stop directly relating college and happiness/money/successfulness. I'm tired of hearing that if I don't go to college I will make 50% less or whatever. I would also love it if people would stop thinking that just because I don't care about my letter grades that I don't care about learning or an education: stop assuming I am refusing to go to college just because I don't think it is absolutely necessary. Grades are important if you aspire to be somthing that requires a college degree, like being a medical examiner or a teacher. However, if you aspire to be somthing like a florist, or an artist, or a musician, or a photographer, or a novelist you do not need good grades or a college degree. I would be interested in going to an art college, or go study philosophy but it's not the highest priority on my list right now.