What is college supposed to be? I thought, for those who had an intellectual bent and were not under enormous short-term pressure financially, it was the time to develop and experiment intellectually. In my case, this was true. I went to school not for the contacts, not for the credentials, but for the education.
 I’m in good company. I was just reading Steve Jobs speech given at the Stanford graduation. And I quote:
 But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents’ savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn’t see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn’t interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.
Steve’s speech is well worth reading and considering. It makes the point that I wanted to make: the primary purpose of college can be achieved without necessarily earning the degree or spending the money. Of course, it means forgoing the credential and you can see how much this has handicapped Steve Jobs & Jez San & Bill Gates.
  I ran across the info on Steve Jobs while reading this blog about learning Karate in a post called: Three Stories by Steve, a poem by Shel
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I’m in a philosphical mood. Here’s two thoughts:
One is a poem by Shel Siverstein….
Listen to the mustn’ts, child.
Listen to the don’ts.
Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts.
Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . .
Anything can happen, child.
Anything can be.
The other is a great commencement address by Steve Jobs who deserves every honor that we can bestow on him.Â
Stanford Report, June 14, 2005
‘You’ve got to find what you love,’ Jobs says
I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories. I’m beginning to think more about higher education. Here are my posts to date on the topic:
 “Education should teach people how to live or how to make a living†— John Adams
Are homeschool kids different when they get to college? (which was a question that did not get much of an answer)
American Colleges: Their Branding (These are on another of my blogs)
Educational Reform – Higher Education Thoughts
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