20-Year-Old Quits College, Starts ‘Uncollege’ Movement

[Jacaylbaro]

Dale J. Stephens is quite a character. He is young and ambitious, not an uncommon combination for a person in their twenties. When Stephens was a teenager, he came home from school one day and declared to his parents that he was going to quit college. It was not for the characteristics of adolescent rebellion, dabbling with the wrong crowd or to obtain more videogame play time, rather, he was on a mission “not to let his schooling interfere with his education,” as Mark Twain once put it.

 

Fast forward a couple of years, Stephens has become a Thiel Fellow, started the ‘Uncollege’ movement, travelled around the world for various speaking engagements, and has a book due for publishing early this year by Penguin.

 

 

Stephens’ Rationale

 

Stephens’ mantra is the failed economics of college fees, commercialization of universities, having to take courses that do not apply to your field, and the recent emergence of available free online courses. In Stephens’ words: “I lead a social movement to change the notion that college is a prerequisite to success.”

 

In essence, ‘Uncollege’ is Stephens’ response to the current education system, which he considers broken. It is a movement, a call to change mindsets about college, and a platform for like-minded people to think, “Hey, I’m not the only one who feels this way about college.” The movement’s main initiatives are the ‘Hackademic Camp’ and the ‘Gap Year Program’. The former has a program that facilitates self-building and challenges participants to craft ways to improve the current education system. The latter is a yearlong program costing some $12,000 to participate. It looks like a longer version of the ‘Hackademic Camp’, boasting an opportunity to live abroad for 3 months, engage listeners in a conference, create an enviable resume and enhance your work experience.

 

How successful has Stephens been? There have been both likeminded thinkers and critics. Nevertheless, amidst the support and criticism, it cannot be denied that he has achieved a lot for his age. It can be attributed back to his personality; this young fellow knows who he is, what he is doing, and how to communicate that to the world.

 

 

 

Read Full Story: http://abetterpeople.com/profiles/blogs/20-year-old-quits-college-starts-uncollege-movement#.UO8ujaDzxuY

[Jacaylbaro]

Stephens’ twelve steps to self-directed lifelong learning:

 

 

Always carry a book, pen and paper

Teach others

Keep a to-learn list

Start something – a website, company, organization, movement

Find and be a mentor

Set your homepage to Wikipedia random

Live abroad and learn a new language

Surround yourself by people who are smarter than you

Think, write, and publish your ideas

Always ask ‘Why?’

Practice unlearning to challenge your views

Become an expert

[Alpha Blondy]

the delusions of whites go far beyond the obvious.

[Bluelicious]

What a weird idea.

[xabad]

the essence of the story is college is getting too expensive for even solidly middle class American families. capitalism is self defeating

[Jacaylbaro]

I honestly Like the Idea ........ who said you have to attend a school to know something ? ,,,

[Bluelicious]

^^ You can be a self taught genius but the distraction is gonna be bigger you have to have the will power and self control to do that.

[xabad]

yeah but you need shahaado in real world to get jobs and what have you.

[Taleexi]

If you create opportunities - you shall be k. This reminds me " .......the man who knows how will always have a job. The man who also knows why will always be his boss. ” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

As a matter of fact most successful people on the planet are dropouts... there are ongoing researches if after all accumulating high college expenses is worth.

[GaraadMon]

Both employers and parents have mandated that getting a degree is essential to success. The number of psychology/sociology graduates working at my old IT firm was nauseating. How a degree is necessary for programming is still a mystery to me.

[Nin-Yaaban]

A college degree is becoming more and more important nowadays. Even with mediocre jobs that u only needed to show a HS/GED diploma before now require some type of degree. Colleges/Universities are turning into for-profit diploma mills. They'd hand one out to anyone who is willing to pay top $. It's a scam that everyone is forced to join if they need any chance in hell of ever finding any decent jobs.

[mahadcaday]

I have a friend who refused to go to college and now has enough money to make his own college.

True story.

[Nin-Yaaban]

Taleexi;907131 wrote:

As a matter of fact most successful people on the planet are dropouts... there are ongoing researches if after all accumulating high college expenses is worth.

LoL true. But they are the exception and not the rule. The litmus test should be, if by the time u are 30-35 ur not successful, maybe it isn't such a bad idea to go back to school (since they're practically handing that shit out to everyone).

[Nin-Yaaban]

Blackflash;907148 wrote:

Both employers and parents have mandated that getting a degree is essential to success. The number of psychology/sociology graduates working at my old IT firm was nauseating. How a degree is necessary for programming is still a mystery to me.

And that's where it started out, Hooyo saying "wiilkii/gabadhii heblaayo iyo heblaayo have a college degree, oo adiga maxaa kuu diiday?" It's all about the FAAN nowadays and nothing else. College/University isn't for everyone and there is no shame in admitting that. And those with College degrees aren't necessarily all smart either. I use to work with this Xaliimo who had 2 college degrees, but had no common sense and couldn't think outside the box. She ended up ruining the whole department/Shift because of her incompetence. She was the biggest Damiinad Walahi.

[rudy-Diiriye]

American Unis has become a greedy machines these days. I recommend to go aboard, online free websites, or get a job with company that pays for education.

 

Traditional education has taken the wrong turn in America.