The debate: Is a degree or diploma necessary to be successful in life?

The speech given by James Yong, founder of Aulis Auto was inspiring. It gave me another good reason why people who have no higher level education certificate CAN be successful in life. And, maybe, even more successful than people who have a college/university degree. Of course, education is needed. I'm not saying that you should drop out of school at the age of 14 or 16. Education is important as a platform in life. James Yong only graduated from SPM and look at him now. He turned out to be a very successful man and just won a Young Entrepreneur Award. He mentioned that during his younger days, nobody would hire him. Nobody called back to arrange a 2nd appointment. He had a pretty rough time back then.

It is a difficult and debatable thing to answer the statement that a person needs a university education to be successful in life. This is because success in life can mean different things to different people. It all comes down to how you define success. Some people say that success is attaining a degree, get a high paid job with that degree, or even get a professional job like a doctor or engineer. Others might define success as finding spritual happiness and finding peace with God and yourself.

I personally think that success is not governed by what grades or what level of education you have. To me, I view education as a personal fulfillment, not a way to seek future. Let's face it, in reality, not many uses what they learned in college. I respect people who obtained their PHD or Degrees, but I look up to the people who struggled and made their way up to the top WITHOUT that piece of paper. Grades don't determine how successful you can become.

I'll just name a few famous people who made it big without a college degree:

• Richard Branson: The owner of Virgin Airlines. Dropped out at the age of 16.
• Walt Disney: Dropped out at 16 as well and is the most influential animator.
• Simon Cowell: Started in a mailroom at a publishing company.
• Bill Gates: College drop out. Started the largest computer software.
• Mark Zuckerberg: College drop out and founder of Facebook.

So there you have it. This is my own personal opinion and I hope nobody gets offended. Each and everyone of us define success in their own unique way. Start small and it will eventually turn into a big thing.

**Joanna**