Oprah Winfrey Essay

?So you want†¦ to get a degree Why? Let me tell you what society will tell you: Increases your chances of getting a job, Provides you an opportunity to be successful, Be a lot less stressful, Education is the key. Now let me tell you something your parents will tell you: Make me proud, Increases your chances of getting a job, Provides you an opportunity to be successful, Your life will be a lot less stressful, Education is the key. Now let’s look at the statistics, Steve Jobs – net worth seven billion R. I. P, Richard Branson – net worth four point two billion,  Oprah Winfrey – two point seven billion, Mark Zuckerberg, Henry Ford, Steven Spielberg, Bill Gates Now here comes the Coup de grace, Looking at these individuals, what’s your conclusion? Neither of them in being successful, Ever graduated from a higher learning institution. Now some of you may be like, Money is only the medium by which we measure worldly success, And some of you even have the nerve to say â€Å"I don’t do it for the money. † So what you studying for? To work for a charity? Need more clarity? Let’s look at the statistics: Jesus, Muhammed,  Socrates, Malcolm X, Mother Teresa, Spielberg, Shakespeare, Beethoven, Jesse Owens, Muhammad Ali, Sean Carter, Michael Jeffrey Jordan, Michael Joseph Jackson. Were either of these people unsuccessful†¦ or†¦ uneducated? All I’m saying is that, If there was a family tree hard work and education would be related, But school would probably be a distant cousin, Because if education is the key, School is the lock, Because it rarely ever develops your mind to the point where it can perceive red as green and continue to go when someone else said stop. Because as long as you follow the rules and pass exams your cool, But are you aware that examiners have a checklist, And if your answer is something outside the box then the automatic response is a cross, And then they claim that school expands your horizons and your visions, Well tell that to Malcolm X who dropped out of school and is world renowned for what he learn in a prison. Proverbs 17:16 It does a fool no good to spend money on an education, Why? Because he has no common sense. George Bush. Need I say more? Education is about inspiring one’s mind,  Not just filling their head, And take this from me because I’m an ‘Educated’ man myself, Who only came to this realization after countless nights in the library, With a can of red bull keeping me awake till morning, Another can in the morning, Falling asleep between piles of books that probably equates to the same amount I spent on my rent, Memorize equations, facts and dates, Write down to the letter, Half of which I would never remember, And half of which I would forget straight after the exam, Before the start of the next semester,  Asking anyone if they had notes for the last lecture. I often found myself running to class, Just so I could find a spot on which I could rest my head and just sleep without making a scene, Ironic because that’s the only time I ever spent in university chasing my dreams. And then after nights with a dead-mind, I’d den find myself in a queue of half-awake students, zombies, Waiting to hand in an assignment, Maybe that’s why they call it a deadline. And then after three years of mental suppression, And frustration, My â€Å"Proud Mother† didn’t even turn up to my graduation. Now, I’m not saying that school is evil and there’s nothing to gain, All I’m saying is: understand your morals and re-assess your aims, If you want a job working for someone else then help yourself, But then that would be a contradiction because you wouldn’t really be helping yourself, You’d be helping somebody else, There’s a saying that is: if you don’t build your dreams, someone else will hire you to help build theirs. Redefine how you view education, Understand it’s true meaning, Education is not just about regurgitating facts from a book, Or someone else’s opinion on a subject to pass an exam,  Look at it. Picasso was educated at creating art, Shakespeare was educated in the art of all that was written, Colonel Harland Sanders was educated in the art of creating Ken Tucky Fried Chicken. I once saw David Beckham take a free kick, I watched as the side of his Adidas-sponsored boot hit the patent leather of the ball at an angle, Which caused it to travel towards the skies as though it was destined for the heavens, And then as it reached the peek of it’s momentum, As though it changed it’s mind, It switched directions. I watched as the goalkeeper froze,  As though reciting to himself the laws of physics, And as though his brain was negotiating with his eyes, That was indeed witnessing the spectacle that was the leather swan that was swooping towards it, And then reacted, Though only a fraction of a millisecond too late, And before the net of the goal, Embraced the Fifa-Sponsored ball as though it was the prodigal son returning home, And the country, that I live in, Erupted into cheers, I looked at the play and thought, Damn, Looking at David Beckham, There’s more than one way in this world to be, An educated man.