Many of us are brought up to think that packing our bags and heading off to college is the only way to make it in this world. Although that might have once been correct, times have changed, and nowadays it looks as though most people can make it in this world without a degree in their hand. You still think college is everything? These successful people never graduated so perhaps there is still hope.
Mark Zuckerberg
Facebook is now one of the largest online websites in the world, but this billion-dollar company didn’t need a college graduate to succeed. In fact, it was while at Harvard that Mark began working on the design of the site. However, he later dropped out to work on Facebook full time and was crowned a billionaire by the time he was 23 years old.
Steve Jobs
The late Steve Jobs was the man behind Apple, but it looks as though it took a trip away to teach him the ways of the world – not college. Steve enrolled in Reed College only to drop out after one semester. The mastermind decided it was time to find his spiritual side in India before he returned to the U.S. and convinced Steve Wozniak to go into business together.
Ellen DeGeneres
There’s being a successful host and comedian, and then there’s being Ellen DeGeneres. This talk show host has been on our screens since the 1990s, but life wasn’t always that way. In fact, Ellen started out her life doing jobs from an oyster shucker to a vacuum salesperson to a house painter. It wasn’t until she ventured into stand-up comedy that Ellen found her natural talent, and the rest is history.
Richard Branson
Richard Branson didn’t just avoid college; he dropped out of high school when he was just 16 years old. The billionaire decided at a young age that he wanted to be an entrepreneur, and set up his own magazine as a teenager. A few years later, Richard founded a mail-order record company that would then grow to become Virgin Records. Now, Richard expresses the importance of staying in education and believed schools should be helping the entrepreneurs of the future.
Michael Dell
Dell by name, Dell by nature, as Michael is the founder of the computer company. He was initially enrolled at the University of Texas before dropping out to work on his grand plans. However, college wasn’t all bad for Michael who had begun working on his computer plans while in his dorm room. Now, he owns one of the most successful technology companies in the world and it worth billions.
Quentin Tarantino
Sometimes, being successful isn’t about making a heap of money – it’s about being able to follow your dreams. Quentin decided high school wasn’t for him and left at 15 years old to work as an usher in an adult movie theater. The youngster went on to work in a video rental store where Quentin used his spare time to write scripts that would later become some of his first films.
College might give us some of the best years of our lives, but these successful people that never graduated go to prove that we don’t always need a degree to make it in the world. Sometimes, all it takes is a little hard work and the determination to follow our dreams instead.
