Knowledge, success, or both.

My academic vs. business struggle.

Technically speaking, I’ve been a full time engineering student at Western University, completing my Software Engineering degree this year. Yet, I maybe attended 3 or 4 lectures this past semester. Should I have been paying more attention? Should I have cared about how the material would affect my grade on the exams and, ultimately, my knowledge in the industry? Should it have been more important to me?

Let’s take an honest look at my path through education.

Back to high school

At first, I was an average student, trying to fit in, meet new friends, and pass with decent grades. By no means was I at the top of the class, but I did alright. I found myself taking the non-essential courses; tech, art(s), gym, etc. Then, something changed; I decided to switch schools and found new inspiration.

Intrigued by the available computer science and engineering courses, I gathered the focus needed for acceptance into a university engineering program. Within the year, I was at the top of my class, in almost every class, receiving a 94% graduating average with distinction awards in Advanced Functions, Calculus and Vectors, Data Management, Exercise Science, and Physics. Narrowly missing English and Chemistry, it was the closest I would ever come to ‘academic excellence’.

But why did it matter? Other than acceptance into my selected engineering schools and a few entrance scholarships, the importance of these grades ceased to exist in 2009.

Early University

Again, I found myself in a vastly new environment. I transitioned from a rural Ontario community to not-actually-that-big-but-seemingly-huge-to-me London; from a high school of 500 students to a University of 35000. Maybe the transition was too much or maybe I was still burnt out from high school, but I lost interest in academics. In short, my first three semesters of University were not spent in labs or lecture theatres, but rather playing Assassin’s Creed and Call of Duty in my apartment.

Clearly, the opportunity was lost on me; or was it?

Opportunity in disguise

After screwing around for about eighteen months, I realized that playing games for six hours straight was a massive waste of my potential. Again, I turned my focus to something else; iOS development. The App Store had become more popular and lucrative over the years prior and I saw an opportunity to put my primitive skills as a software engineering student to better use.

The first application I developed was Memory Matters. It wasn’t an overly complex game, and I was able to complete it within about a month. However, with thousands of downloads in the first few days, it received attention from Apple and I was awarded a WWDC Student Scholarship in 2011.

It was here that I finally made the realization that there may be actual business opportunities prior to graduation, and I’ve taken this realization with me over the past few years with my various ventures. How could I wait for professors to prepare me for the industry? How could I allow myself to be contained by the academic system? I couldn’t.

The duality of our world

Yes, there may be a few opportunities for high-potential students to drop out of school and bring their post-graduation dreams to the present. And yes, thousands of brilliant graduates flow from our post-secondary system every year, into jobs that are very necessary for the growth of our society.

Regardless, over the past 12 months, I have built a growing 10 person development agency, while finishing my degree simultaneously. The truth of the matter is that today’s students have so much under-utilized potential. We need to push them out of their comfort zones; advocate for change and acceleration before graduation.

I’m thankful for the opportunities that were presented to me before graduation, and I hope that I can and that others will extend the same opportunities to today’s young talent.