Don't drop out, or Why learning might still be helpful

Less than a year ago, the company Y Combinator offered me and my friends the opportunity to develop our startup by participating in their program.

I was not required to leave college; it would be enough academic leave for one semester. But I understood well that after an 8-month break, I would not be able to return to academic cram regardless of the success of the company. In fact, temporary care would mean the final separation from the school.

I discussed this decision with family, friends, and teachers. Opinions were divided, so I was looking for answers online. After reading a lot of articles, I paid attention to a certain regularity: the current millionaires and billionaires preferred to avoid the stuffy walls of the cloister of sciences in adolescence and youth. “The founders do not need college,” I heard again and again. In contrast to this, every resource that motherly carefully urged me to stay in college had other arguments:
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Education will make a real opportunity to get a job of your dreams . This is undoubtedly true, but this has never been sufficiently motivated. The reward was too foggy.

Many successful people graduated from college . It seemed a very dubious statement. And besides, picking ticks doesn't make me happy.

Education will be your insurance . This statement did not seem convincing to me, because I don’t want to spend the best years of my youth creating “insurance”. I want to do something that I love - and now.

I felt that before me was not the whole picture. There is something comforting in meeting other people's decision-making reasons, no matter how absurd they are: it makes you more confident in your own choices. What value in higher education can be for a guy with technology abilities and enough energy to create slaughter pieces? I tried my best to find an article in my language that would answer this question. Here is the article :

Universities and self-taught

Perhaps the most obvious and frequently cited reason to stay in school is that passing a course gives you tangible skills. However, although this may be true, it does not convey the main thing - in educational institutions not only data on what to teach, but also how to learn is given.

I often hear from other students saying that a liberal arts education is useless. They are convinced that technical education is more valuable than non-technical specialties, as if it endows its “owner” with personal or intellectual superiority:

A degree in [English / sociology / philosophy, etc.] does not give you practical skills in the workplace. Why not learn something practical?

Such judgments are anti-intellectual and show glaring limitations of the mind . Each field of study carries intellectual value, regardless of whether you understand it or not. Humanitarian scholars have increased both the breadth and depth of human understanding of the disciplines that they found important. Monumental discoveries are often made in places where their practical application is not immediately obvious. This is the meaning of the world of university science.

Each discipline by its nature has different methods of study. Each gives new ways of representing entities and communication with each other. Alternative mental models are no longer divided into incorrect and correct, they are simply different, and possibly incompatible. The analytical tools that you get in the learning process are much more useful than a diploma.

You may argue that it is possible to independently study various disciplines outside the school. And you are right! Of course, you can do it.

But you will not do that . It will not be because it is not easy. Because you do not know where to start. Because at first glance, any area that is not related to your real hobby will seem boring. Finally, because it is not easy to find time to study topics that are not related to your work or startup.

The school pulls you out of your comfort zone. You may not like the field of study, but it’s important that you study things for a while that you don’t like to be a fully educated person. Consider that many important innovations are at the intersection of several areas. In fact, all the most valuable subjects that I studied were not related to computer science.

Good students do self-study. I will say frankly: I rarely attend classes. Some would call me self-taught, but I don't think so. I always learn from someone, be it a teacher, a textbook author, or a team of authors who create articles for Wikipedia. These are just different information carriers, each of which has its own set of advantages.

It would be dishonest on my part not to mention why I despised (and continue to despise!) Some training courses: bad subjects with a bad curriculum and bad teachers are a waste of time. Because, ideally, your classes should inspire you to teach even more, and not overload you with tedious work. Try to attend classes with professors who will expand the boundaries of your intellectual comfort zone. Avoid bad activities at all costs.

Many of the most important subjects taught in schools cannot be studied using textbooks alone. An educational institution is a catalyst of experience that will show your physical, emotional and mental qualities. College education offers you a wide variety of opportunities to learn new skills — from both your fellow students and the faculty as a whole. You will never again have such an opportunity - even in a startup - to be surrounded by a huge number of peers who inspire you and encourage you to study hard.

You are not the new Mark Zuckerberg.

... and there is nothing terrible!

In educational institutions there is a problem with the cult of personality. It seems that everyone firmly believes that he will be the next CEO, managing a company with a capital of one billion dollars.

However, many aspiring entrepreneurs have gone even further, trying to imitate their idols in decision-making and personal life. But if your life is only the shadow of someone's story, then you will understand that such behavior is doomed to failure. You will never be the "new Mark Zuckerberg". It will not work.

Live your life. Do not try to be the "next" someone - be yourself. I bet your own ambitions are more interesting.

Startup culture is hostile to this position. I know those who “combed” Hacker News and TechCrunch in search of the exact steps they need to take to turn their young company into a radiant unicorn. If you do not have a detailed plan for five years, you have already lost.

Well, it went . You do not need a "life plan." Perhaps you do not want it. A college is, in essence, an invitation to study yourself. Take advantage of it.

What is the rush?

Socially unadapted entrepreneurs who have not been educated become something of a cliché in modern media. Throw training to build a business, now in vogue.

Some brilliant individuals earn capital on this trend, encouraging the best and brightest students to stop their formal education ahead of schedule. In particular, the Thiel Fellowship selects several students each year, offering them to leave school and instead receive a grant for two years and study under a mentorship program that is designed to help them achieve new (usually entrepreneurial) goals. I have a lot of friends at Thiel Fellowship, and believe me, the program selects highly qualified candidates. Fellowship applause for making it more socially acceptable that you can be a good specialist by leaving an educational institution halfway through or bypassing it altogether.

At the same time, I disagree with the fundamental thesis of the program . These programs do exactly the same thing as higher education, which is based on division in specific areas, which they oppose: they create a thin veil of external selection. A reward - a diploma - does not mean that you have succeeded. Before you is still a whole field of plowed.

I got the impression that Thiel Fellowship is looking for students who can't wait to quit education, and all they need is the final argument that will push them to this decision. However, if this issue comes from the outside, then perhaps it will not lead to anything good. Ask yourself if your decision were the same if you didn’t receive such an offer. If you understand that you would have left the school in any case, then, paradoxically, such programs as Thiel Fellowship may well suit you.

I build on my experience and observations, saying that if you are going to create a company, you can, while still in school, make its prototype . If a business is going uphill, and your classes are on the path of its development, then this is the right moment to leave the educational institution.

However, do not limit yourself. There are countless other projects that can be combined with studies. In the first three years of my studies at the University of California at Berkeley, I created an application in our student-supported business incubator, muddied the currently largest hackathon, and developed a lot of open source software. I believe that all this was useful for my professional growth.

It makes no sense to wait for graduation to start working on what you love. Join groups with friends to work together on educational projects. Create something, create anything, even if it is not a business. Do not miss the opportunity to raise additional funds for your development. Do research under the direction of the professor. Use the resources provided by the institution for the benefit of their business. It is important that you do what you love.

At the same time, the most important thing that I did during my studies was beyond material benefits: I found a community of friends who kept me in good shape every day. To surround yourself with a “correct” peer group is an important guarantee that your learning will be your joy. Invest your time in the development of your relationship. Life outside of student society can be isolated. But when you discover the real world for yourself, your friends are more important than ever to you.

Love yourself

Life is short. Your youth, being only a part of it, is even shorter. For yourselves you should receive a little (more) joy.

A lot of things you can experience only as a student. I think that all those who are promoting the idea of ​​leaving their higher education institution forget about the fact that we are all people. We are motivated not only by the prospects for long-term rewards. Here is a brief list of things that you are sure to miss if you decide to leave school :

• Acquaintance with people of your age with various worldviews, from various parts of the world and segments of the population.
• Enjoying the excess of free time, which gives the opportunity for adventure (or just for a great time for video games).
• The ability to join one of the million student groups, or create your own.
• “Expanding the boundaries of your consciousness” in the environment where it is acceptable from a social point of view.
• Use summertime to try yourself in a different work environment for an internship, travel around the world, or just spend precious time with friends and family.
• Attend a variety of activities: dance, theater, choral singing and other types of performances with the participation of their classmates.
• Creating cool things, new friends for life, which can be found on student hackathons.
• The ability to wear workouts every day.

The bottom line is that student years can be one of the best periods in your life. I met my best friends while studying in California. With this time I have the warmest memories.

I do not want to leave.

When I decided to refuse Y Combinator in order to complete my education, my decision surprised everyone. However, I was most surprised by myself. Throughout my life I have been eager to get an opportunity that will save me from studying once and for all. However, when she introduced herself to me, I refused — not out of fear, but out of understanding.

I used to explain why I stayed in school. As a rule, this is the first question that is asked of me, having learned that I was on the verge of leaving education. But I am rarely asked how I feel about this decision. I would say that this is a much more important question. Well, what do I think about this more than six months later?

I am happy that I am still at the university, it is in the swing, and at the same time I can not wait for the release.