Milica's Chronicle

Does school success even matter?

Is it really important to go to a college in order to have a nice career and a happy life? Do our grades truly determine how successful we are going to be in the future? These are just some of the questions which every student thinks about at some point of their life. On one side, there are people who believe that school is the only way to ensure a good life and also believe that if you are well educated, you will have a career for sure. On the other side, however, there are people who believe that you do not have to be a Harvard or a Cambridge graduate in order to be successful. Should we do our best at school in order to achieve our goals, or should we care less about our grades and more about the quality of our lives?

The richest person in the world, Bill Gates, is a college dropout. After 2 years in Harvard University, he decided to leave his studies because of a business opportunity. With a net worth of $83.9 billion, 3 children and a charity which is considered to be the largest transparently operated private foundation in the world, we can comfortably say that he is a very successful man. Bill Gates is not the only successful college dropout. Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Walt Disney have all not finished their education. This list goes on and on. Another point is that having a lot of money is not the only measurement for success. People who did not finish schooling but have happy families can also be considered successful. In their case, school has not played a key role in making their lives fulfilling and joyful.

However, the percentage of people who are wealthy and have dropped out of education is close to zero when we compare it with the total population. Millions and millions of other successful people, including doctors, engineers and lawyers, have acquired their success based on their school achievement. A university degree is almost considered as essential in today’s world and it is very hard to find a decent job without one. Although a degree does not guarantee a job, it certainly increases chances of getting one. Also, many of the famous college dropouts had started attending prestigious universities before dropping out of them, which means that they had been showing very good results throughout their high school. They would not be accepted to these universities if they had not been successful in school before they applied to the universities. For example, both Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg had attended Harvard University before dropping out. Harvard is probably the most selective university in the world, so the two could not have been accepted to it if they did not have success in high school. This means that school success did play a key part in their success later on in life, despite the fact that many people use the two of them as examples of people who succeeded without the help of school.

To sum it all up, success is relative and can be interpreted in many ways. I agree with the fact that school is important, but partially disagree with the extent to which it is important. I believe that not every job in this world requires a university degree but I also think that a university degree, although expensive and time-consuming to acquire, is much more of a benefit than a disadvantage.