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Unschooling: The Better College Alternative

Unschooling: The Better College Alternative

We are all conditioned these days to believe that we need college to survive. It’s a dog eat dog world and that piece of paper that says you have a degree gives you an edge.

Does it really though?

I mean sure, if your applying for a certain job and you just so happen to have a degree in said job, then your resume is probably going to have a better chance than someone’s without a degree attached to it.

However, I do know people with a Master’s degree that have been unable to find a job in their field for years.

What does that degree REALLY mean then? That you stuck it out and that you complete what you start? Definitely.

That your in super need of said job because your in debt up to your big educated brain? Probably. That you know exactly what your talking about in said field?

I dunno. Maybe, but I know more than one person with a degree who are just really good at google and test taking (and I bet you do too).

Whether or not you should go to college though isn’t what’s up for debate here. If you’re debating whether you should go to college or not, my advice would be resounding yes!

If for nothing else, it would be a great experience. If you’re good at the whole schooling thing and are cool with the debt or can get scholarships and know what you want to do and how to land a job in said field and ya know, all that good stuff.

The system expects kids to have everything figured out by age eighteen. To know what they want in life and how to get it. To decide on a path and follow it until retirement. How unrealistic.

I mean sure, I hate the word, but how many of you knew exactly, without a doubt, where you wanted to be in ten years and how to get there? Some of you, sure, but probably well under half.

I, however, was not one of those people. I thought I was. Sorta. In my family, not going to college wasn’t really an option. So I did what I was suppose to do and took out some student loans and settled on a field that I kinda liked,(more like, out of my options this was the best choice) and went to class.

Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE to learn. However, I only love to learn about what I wanna learn about. Therefore, I don’t focus very well and it’s hard to keep my attention and I’m very easily distractable when you’re trying to teach me something that I don’t care anything about.

So I failed a class, (or two) dropped out of a class (or the same one twice. Who’s counting?) and luckily completely dropped out of college before I was too far into debt with nothing to show for it. My family was devastated. It was the best darn decision on my life.

I discovered unschooling. Or better yet, discovered I had been doing it all along and that there was a name for it.

Unschooling is a type of learning that puts everything in the hands of the learner. The learner decides what to learn, how to learn it and the pace at which it is learned.

It’s how most of our ancestors learned because it is the most natural way of learning. By allowing the student to pursue their own knowledge on the subject of their choosing, their natural curiosity leads them to excel.

You can believe whatever you want, but I believe that forcing a child to learn something they don’t care about not only sets them up for failure, but crushes their desire to learn anything.

Don’t get me wrong though. Everyone should have basic skills, like reading and mathing, but does everyone REALLY need to know Advanced Geometry?

When is the last time you found the radius or circumference of a circle? (I’m talking about average folks here, not engineers or someone else with a job title involving area, before someone points out that they “actually” do it everyday.)

At school, you have a set list of majors, minors, degrees and classes and all that good stuff. Those are your choices. Pick a box, any box! As long as it’s one of these boxes right here.

“Little boxes, on the hillside, little boxes made of ticky tacky…”

The best thing about the internet these days is that you can pick any box you want. You don’t even have to pick a box if you don’t want! You can pick a pillow if that’s your thing! The only limitations are your imagination’s borders.

Let’s take a little bit of a break and tweet this article to your friends that didn’t make it through college and let them know that the world is not over and there are other options! Click the picture below!

So, I’ve put together a little list of some people who never graduated college in no particular order, in hopes of inspiring a few folks. You don’t need anything to succeed in life but an idea and an ability to believe in yourself.

  1. Benjamin Franklin.
    • I LOVE this guy. He’s one of my favourites. Not much explaining on his success is  needed I hope. However, did you know he dropped out of school when he was just ten years old because his family was so poor. He learned everything he did through unschooling. He’s a self taught genius. Just like myself.
  1. Bruce Wayne.
    • That’s right. Batman, with all of his glory was a completely unschooled kid.
  2. Richard Branson.
    • The founder of Virgin Mobile, Virgin records and all the other Virgin branded things dropped out of high school at the age of 16. He was dyslexic and had poor academic performance.
  3. Matt Mullenweg.
    • Our very own founder of Word Press dropped out of college to help Mark Zuckerberg (another famous drop out) create Facebook.
  4. Rachael Ray.
    • I took one year of culinary arts in high school. Making me “officially” more qualified to be in the industry she has taken over.
  5. David Green.
    • The founder of Hobby Lobby (a place I adore) finished high school but opted out of higher education.
  6. Dave Thomas.
    • The founder of the restaurant chain, Wendy’s, didn’t finish high school.
  7.  Michael Dell.
    • The guy who founded Dell computers is a college drop out who started from nothing.

The list of successful college and high school drop outs goes on and on. Including the founder of Tumblr, Forever 21 and Gumroad.

I tried to pick ones that you’ve heard of but there are tons that aren’t on the “super star” level. Most just make a modest living (by that I mean just a few million) out of the spotlight.

If they are capable of things that outstanding, just imagine what you can do with a fraction of their effort? That’s my entirely self taught philosophy anyway.

In the end, I’m not saying don’t stay in school. I’m simply saying that it’s not the end of the world if school turns out not to be for you.

There are tons of ways to become educated without the formalities and they’re becoming ever increasingly common and easy to navigate. Find what fits for you and run with it. Your happiness is the greatest measurement of personal success there is.

It’s all about the mindset, mindset, mindset..

If you’re in need of someone to support your efforts and hold you accountable to your goals, Message me anytime.

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Savannah Shea Blake Profile picture

S.S.Blake; Spiritual Life Coach, Yoga + Meditation Teacher and Founder of Earth and Water

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