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"After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made."

Steve Jobs' reasoning was probably the main inspiration for me dropping out. And he makes a really good point. I also dropped out before I had any form of "success" (and it's also been one of the best decisions I've made). I'd like to think that if you'll succeed in life you'll do so whether or not you go to college. But the pressure to succeed becomes immense when you do something like drop out of college. That probably speeds things up.

But still, I agree completely that this Steve Jobs type dropping out should not be so readily encouraged. I only did it because I was absolutely sure about most of the things Jobs described in that quote above.



Steve Jobs was a (mildly) successful independent businessman before he dropped out. This is key.


"It was pretty scary at the time"

The point was that he made the decision in a time of general uncertainty, but certain that dropping out was the right decision.




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