What do you call an event where the world watches and celebrates people who are not college graduates and in numerous cases those who are being celebrated are not even high school graduates? What do you call an event that celebrates those who deliberately rejected the status quo teaching that everyone must follow the same life path – graduate from high school, go to college, graduate from college earning a degree in a “worthwhile” discipline and get a “good job”?
If your answer to the question was some black tie fundraiser for unwed mothers, the homeless or recently released prisoners you wouldn’t even be close to being correct. If your answer to the question was the NBA Finals, NFL Super Bowl, UEFA Champions League Championship, Daytona 500, PGA Tour, Wimbledon Championships or some other sporting event you would be equally dead wrong. Stumped? I’ll give you a couple hints.
MAYBE YOU AREN’T SMARTER THAN A FIFTH GRADER
First, the award recipients are not persons of unusual size or stature nor do they possess other worldly speed or athletic skills. Second, you can’t attend this event if you wear your favorite team’s jersey or some other team paraphernalia. Third, the event where these “traditional educational failures” are celebrated is a formal awards ceremony where men wear dashing tuxedos and women wear the most elegant designer gowns. Fourth, the event occurs annually and is televised live in more than 100 countries.
Still baffled? Need another hint? Well, so much for the value of a “higher education”. The nominees and winners of these awards not only walk on a red carpet but the decisions they made to blaze their own path and follow their passions allows many of us, “the educational successes” – high school and college graduates of this world – to escape the mundane existence that is known as our sad, simple and depressing lives for a couple of hours each weekend.
THE OSCARS, DUMMY!
Figured it out yet? If you finally said the Oscars you would be correct. The awards given annually for excellence of cinematic achievements are consistently presented to high school dropouts, GED recipients, high school graduates only and college dropouts. While those awards are being handed out, you, me and several hundred million of our closest high school graduate and college graduate friends watch, cheer and celebrate these “traditional educational failures”.
Not only do we support these “traditional educational failures” during the Oscars by being among the several hundred million viewers but we do so with our wallets as we purchase tickets by the millions to watch their movies in the theater. Once the movies leave the theater we support them further by renting them, viewing them on satellite & cable, watching them on pay per view and purchasing them on DVDs and Blu-Ray.
I’m not going to even mention the amount of popcorn, soda and candy we eat while “supporting” the “traditional educational failures”.
Yet when it comes to educating, encouraging and supporting children; when it comes to raising children; when it comes to discussing the pursuit of happiness; when offering advice about life and the way one should pursue life, we typically choose to tell our children and those who trust our advice that most often the only way, the best way to pursue life is to choose the path that everyone else is choosing.
We espouse a belief and encourage a formula that insists that the only and best way of achieving anything in life requires a formal college education. This theory is known by the many proponents as the “path of least resistance”.
PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE IS NOT THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
The path of least resistance is a metaphor that describes the personal effort and the avoidance of struggle a person should limit experiencing if they want to have success. In the case of education, most parents and adult advisers tell children not to dream of greatness in something non-traditional like the arts (writing, music, sculpting, painting, acting, etc.) unless and until they take the path of least resistance – earning a college degree.
However, what if not following your dreams and instead electing to do something that is not truly your passion is the most difficult journey to take? When we substitute following our dreams for the traditional path – more often than anyone likes to admit – taking this so-called path of least resistance turns out to actually be the path of most resistance.
As fate would have it, the path of greatest resistance for so many of us turns out to be having to do something our heart is not into even if that thing we are being encouraged to do is earning a college degree.
TIME TO GET REAL
The lack of personal conviction and the compulsion by others that we must do what they want us to do might explain in part why there are so many high school and college dropouts. Moreover, the lack of personal conviction and compulsion by others might also explain why so many adults at one time or another when choosing to answer openly and honestly will freely admit that the vocation and/or profession that they chose and are presently employed is not what they truly want to do.
In reality, most parents and adults dreamt of a very different life but lacked the personal fortitude, support system and plan of action to make their dreams a reality.
IMAGINE IF YOU WILL
So this brings us back to the Oscars. Imagine the 85th Oscars if some of the winners had not chosen their own paths of least resistance and had instead chosen to follow the standardized path of “least resistance”.
- Ben Affleck a college dropout would not have received the award for the Best Picture, Argo.
- George Clooney a college dropout would not have received the award for Best Picture, Argo
- Daniel Day-Lewis a high school graduate and a cabinet apprenticeship reject would not have received the award for Best Actor, Lincoln.
- Jennifer Lawrence a high school graduate, who graduated from high school in two years, would not have received the award for Best Actress, Silver Linings Playbook.
- Christoph Waltz a high school graduate would not have received the award for Best Supporting Actor, Django Unchained.
- Anne Hathaway a college dropout would not have received the award for Best Supporting Actress, Les Misérables.
- Adele a high school graduate would not have received the award for Best Music – Original Song, Skyfall.
Picture (no pun intended) Argo never having been made, someone other than Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln, someone other than Jennifer Lawrence as Tiffany, someone other than Christoph Waltz as Dr. Schultz, someone other than Anne Hathaway as Fantine, and someone other than Adele singing Skyfall. You don’t have to think about it long to realize that to consider someone other than the aforementioned people feels odd if not just flat out wrong.
The people who played the roles in the year’s best movies did so because they were willing to blaze their own paths of least resistance – having the personal fortitude, support system and plan of action to make their dreams a reality.
The next time, your child or someone who trusts your advice ask you about how they should live their life or whether or not they should pursue their passion, think about the Oscar winners and the movies you watch each weekend that allows us to escape our mundane and sadly predictable lives.
What do you think? Please give some real thought to your answers! Imagine what this year’s Oscar Awards would have been like if we had been asked to advise the Award winners about the path of least resistance when they were children. Share your thoughts below!