I spent the better part of five years at a traditional university, one that is well respected and it was a life changing experience. But, for what it was worth, I took the courses I wanted. I even took an overload of classes most semesters, but didn’t necessarily put emphasis on the courses that I needed to actually get my degree, in fact, I went from math team nerd to failing some of my math classes or at least just passing. I didn’t graduate with a diploma, but I ended up with enough credits to get a master’s degree. I have a very strong foundation in engineering, but I just didn’t finish the degree with the student project work, I didn’t see the benefit of it. Same with Chem 101 (a repeat of what I did in high school) or some of the advanced math courses.

During that same period, I was working. It varied, early on it was just things leveraging that I worked doing CAD drawing in high school, but I got involved in research projects that were really extremely cool and pushing the boundaries. I actually ended up as a staff at the school at the end of the time, building artificial heart-lung prototypes. It was very cool and meaningful work. If the weather had been more sunny, I probably would have been able to stay on and still be in academia today.

One of my current investors introduced me to his teenage daughter one day, and we all started discussing college and I was asked what my recommendation for a good school would be. I said that traditional university doesn’t necessarily make sense now. Especially if you are coming in as an overseas student (and you are paying your way for everything), then why not take that cash and put it into some sort of other experience? Starting your own company, just taking a few years and doing what it is you think you want to do without the absolute pressure of being on a paycheck to paycheck schedule. For my generation and before, I think that was a lot of what college was about, space to explore, with peers that would both give you pressure and support. But, given the base cost of a good school now along with the potential of accessing the underlying information and curriculum without having to attend it (and pay that price), it seems like there is a gap and an opportunity.

I guess I’m an example of the counterpoint supporting this whole post. I went and I learned what I wanted. I wasn’t concerned about if I needed to learn something to pass the test, just what made sense for me to learn. I think if I were to be a high school graduate today, I probably wouldn’t have gone to a university. More than likely, I would find the resources I needed to study independently and work at the same time. I do think that learning the fundamentals of your space is important, and also knowing how to learn is even more critical. Even if you don’t understand everything, at least being able to approach something that someone else you need to collaborate with on seems to be the important part.