The Bill Gates Phenomenon: Is Finishing School Important In Achieving Success?

Who says you have to have a college diploma to succeed in life? Bill Gates, the richest man in the world, certainly doesn’t think so. The math genius dropped out of Harvard University at the age of 19 to set up his own software company. And the rest is history. As you start another school year toiling for that piece of paper that many consider to be a sure ticket to fame and fortune, pause for a while and evaluate if it’s worth all the effort. Is finishing school important in achieving success? Or is there another path you can take — a short cut, perhaps — in pursuing your dreams?

THE REBELLION

Wally Chamsay is Marketing Director for Sony Music Entertainment Philippines. Wally dropped out of the Ateneo one month before graduation. "That was the time of the EDSA Revolution. The time was really bad. It looked like the country was going into civil war. So I said forget about school, it’s not going to mean anything."

Robert John Tan, TV director of CBN, Inc. John finished his freshmen year as a UST Fine Arts student before deciding to quit school altogether. "I was not concerned about my future when I was younger. When I started working as a supermarket boy at 16, I was happy to have my own money and at that time that was enough for me. So, 15 years later I am still working and have not stopped to finish school."

Pin Antonio, Owner of Salon de Manila. Pin took a maternity leave when she was in 3^rd year college at UST. "I never got the chance to go back to school because I gave birth at 20. I just worked in our salon, which I really enjoyed."

All of them dropped out of school for one reason or another. Some out of choice, others out of necessity. Yet, no one can contest the fact that they have achieved a measure of success that equals or even surpasses that of those who finished school. How did they do it? Through hard work, they say, and a firm belief in their talents and abilities. But of course, they had to pass through the initial insecurity of having no diploma to show during job interviews. "Whenever I update or show my, I feel embarrassed that I do not have a degree written in it. But a hardly shows how good one is specially if one is just starting out," shares John, who now produces and direct s shows for Indonesia and Cambodia. Fortunately for John, the people who interviewed him got pass his educational status and gave them a break.

Instead of taking it as a setback, this drove John to work harder. "On my own initiative I started teaching myself on how to edit, operate a camera, write, produce, and direct. I would often bring volumes of manuals and books home to read at night and apply what I learned the next day. Through trial and error and God’s grace, I have been able to teach myself and others," shares the 32-year-old director.

This also served as a challenge for Pin. "Because of what happened to me, I became more determined to achieve what I am enjoying now," says the 38-year-old hairstylist, who now owns and operates five branches of Salon de Manila. "The most important thing is for you to have a goal. My parents instilled in me the importance of having goals, the importance of dreams. Marami nga riyan nakapagtapos nga, pero wala rin, di ba?" For Pin, that meant learning all about hair and makeup on the job, while also teaching herself the rudiments of managing a salon. She was only 20 then and was already raising a family to boot. Since then, Pin, who recently won the top prize in the Davines World Style Asian Competition, has never stopped learning. She goes abroad twice a year to train at Vidal Sassoon Academy to make sure her salon remains in the cutting edge of fashion and beauty.

In Wally’s case, it was his knowledge of the ins-and-outs of the music industry that earned him a post at Sony Music Entertainment. "Your diploma is very, very important to you when you get out of college but after a couple of years, it doesn’t mean that much anymore. I guess when you get past the age of 27 or 28, people start looking for accomplishments." Years ago, while Wally was involved in the family business, he became a consultant for a US company about the recording industry in the country. He was so good at it that the people at Sony offered him a job! Now the 39-year-old executive runs Sony’s record companies in the Philippines.

Despite what they have achieved, all of them wish they had finished their education. Wally, sums it up best. "Though a diploma is not a prerequisite to success, it certainly opens a lot of doors. In my time it wasn’t that important. Competition at that time wasn’t so hard. Today, it’s a completely different thing," explains the Sony executive, "It’s important to go to school as a matter of an insurance blanket. In the job market today, if you have a master’s degree, you can be completely incompetent for a particular line of work. But your salary is automatically five times than a guy with a simple undergraduate degree. So those things help." In other words, the Bill Gates phenomenon is an exception rather than a rule. As John puts it: "So few of us who did not finish school succeed."

THE WIZ KIDS

Roselle Ambubuyog is the sight-impaired valedictorian and summa cum laude of Ateneo de Manila. "Success is inherent. It’s your own right and responsibility. Although if a person is in the right environment, it’s going to be easier to achieve success."

Dr. Elaine Cunanan is a magna cum laude of UST Medical School and medical board topnotcher. "I didn’t expect to become a topnotcher, but I prepared for it. Much less ang panonood ng TV at mga labas-labas."

Arnold Vegafria, president of ALV Group of Companies. Arnold is a dentistry graduate who started his own business at 18. "I took up dental medicine to please my family. Our clan was into business. My parents were hoping that I would go into medicine. So I finished my course, para pag-bigyan na lang sila."

Enter the wiz kids, people who were the proverbial teacher’s pets in school. Just looking at their credentials would tell you that they valued their education very much and are here to convince you that finishing college is the greatest career move you can ever make. "The better educated you are, the higher your chance of getting the position that you want. In my field, finishing school and obtaining a license are givens. Who would trust a doctor who didn’t pass the medical board," says Dr. Elaine, who topped the medical board in the year 2000.

This may be applicable for those who are planning to enter a very specialized field, but how about those who just want a regular office job? Or those who have entrepreneurial dreams? Is going to school worth the effort? Arnold Vegrafria, who started his own business at 18 and is now the big boss of the ALV Group of Companies, was in that predicament. He was already in college taking up Dentistry when he discovered that his passion was producing concerts and bringing foreign artists into the country. Pretty soon he started his own events company. Despite that, Arnold finished his studies to please his parents. He practiced Dentistry for six months but he realized that he was really a businessman to the core. Yet, Arnold has no regrets for all the years he spent studying about teeth. "Being in dental school taught me a lot about discipline, hard work, organization, and focus. Although my field of expertise is not at all related to being a dentist, I think what really matters is that I was armed with the values that being in dental school trained me with," says Arnold. So for him, school became a controlled environment where he acquired the qualities he needed to become successful.

Many of us, while in the middle of a mind-numbing algebra exam, have at one point in our lives complained about the relevance of learning to solve the quadratic equation. Why bother studying something that you won’t be able to use in the real world? Blind achiever Roselle Ambubuyog, who is now taking up her M.A. in Actuarial Science in U.P., has a different take on the matter: "Nasa estudyante na rin yon, eh. If he becomes open to what is being taught, hindi lang niya nakikita na sa Math tinuturuan tayong mag-add. In Science, tinuturuan tayong mag-mix ng chemicals. Pero ’yung value nung bakit kailangan tayong maghirap sa pag-sosolve, bakit kailangan tayong mag-work as a group."

Like Arnold, Roselle, who was struck blind when she was very young, believes that school is an important training ground for the qualities one needs to succeed in life. "It doesn’t only teach you academic stuff. In school, one learns how to relate with people, how to deal with problems, whether they’re really serious or just light ones. Sometimes students would say, ‘Siguro naman kung mag-apply ako, meron din namang training na hiwalay, so bakit pa ako mag-aaral?’ But what people miss out on is not just the basic knowledge. It’s more about the basic skills that one would need for the rest of one’s life."

The bottom line is, if you’ve been given the brains and resources to pursue a college education, work at being the best student you can be. While it isn’t a guarantee that you will become a multimillionaire someday, getting a good education will prepare you in meeting the demands of your chosen field.

"The things you have to do in school mirror what you have to do in real life. A lot of the silly courses that you take is really just an exercise to show that in a working environment, when you have to proceed with a task, you can at least complete that task," says Wally. A diploma will be an indication, for your future employers that, yes, you do have the drive and determination to hold the job that you are applying for. But remember that a diploma will only get you through the door; what you do when you’re there is up to you.

If you are not fortunate enough to afford a college education, do not despair. As Roselle puts it: "Karapatan mong maging successful, it doesn’t mean na kung hindi ka nakapag-aral o average student ka lang eh hindi ka magiging successful. You have to work for it and if you’ve reached a certain level of success, you shouldn’t be content with that. Kasi it’s your responsibility that if you become successful with your own goals, try to help others help others to achieve your goals. If ever you have limits that you hear people tell you or people expect you to have, sometimes it’s all in your mind. You set your own limits. You don’t have to let anybody else set it. God never placed us here to fail. With the right combination of the talents that we have, the God-given gifts and if we do not stop trying, if we do not quit, talagang we’re meant to win, we’re meant to succeed."