“I'm not one of those who say this is the way. I'm not that opinionated. I can only say this is my way. Even the $1,000 scholarship that my son could have gotten from the state of Illinois to go to college, we didn't want. I'd rather get out and work and have my children know that their money comes from their parents and we have to work for it.” KnowsWayWantChildrenI CanStatesParentCollegeSonMy WayMy ChildrenMy SonScholarshipOpinionatedIllinois Author:Marva Collins
“Many years ago, in the late '70s, I toured colleges along the East Coast and I presented a kind of show where I got a lot of books and poetry and pieces of [William] Shakespeare and other writers that I admire, read it to the class and then afterward we would talk and I would answer questions. It was really a way of expressing and finding out about where I was at that particular time, so it was very therapeutic for me.” WayYearsKindBookShowsAnswersClassPiecesCollegeParticularFindingsLateYears AgoEastAdmireCoastTherapeuticEast Coast Author:Al Pacino
“When you go into a college of education you've got aspirations of making a difference in people's lives, of loving children, of working with kids, but none of that is affirmed in your college of education. Then you go working in schools, especially in places like New York City and Chicago that I'm most familiar with, and you find these huge aspirations are beaten out of you in a very systematic way - and still people persevere.” PeopleWayChildrenStillsKidsSchoolDifferencesCitiesNew YorkCollegeHugeFamiliarAspirationMaking A DifferenceChicagoNew York CityBeatenPersevereSystematicLoving Children Author:Bill Ayers
“From about ninth grade on, I knew I was a writer at heart. I had fantasies of being a great novelist, but I thought that seemed like an iffy way to try to make a living. So I tried journalism while in college, and really liked it. But even in journalism, I've always pursued ways to be somewhat literary, whether writing a column or writing books.” WayWritingTryingHeartBookFantasyCollegeJournalismNovelistsGradesPursuedColumnsWriting A BookNinth Grade Author:Kevin Maney
“My aunt used to say, "It's between me and my god; it's got nothing to do with you." It was a good enough answer for me as a snot-nosed college kid angling for a religious debate, and I still think it's a good way of putting it.” ThinkingWayStillsEnoughKidsUsedReligiousAnswersCollegeDebateGood EnoughAuntGood WayAngling Author:Mohsin Hamid
“From the time I started teaching, when I was 21, I've always signed my name Bob Knight. My college coach called me Bobby, still does. But I have never introduced myself to anybody in my adult life in any way other than, "I'm Bob Knight."” WayDoeStillsNamesTeachingCollegeAdultsCoachesBobKnights Author:Bobby Knight
“Middle-class white children, children of privilege, are afforded the opportunity to make a lot of mistakes and still go on to college, still dream big dreams. But for kids who are born in the ghetto in the era of mass incarceration, the system is designed in such a way that it traps them, often for life.” WayChildrenStillsDreamBigsKidsOpportunityBornWhiteMistakeClassMiddleCollegeGoes OnMassPrivilegeErasMiddle ClassTrapsGhettoIncarcerationMass Incarceration Author:Michelle Alexander
“For those who say that the war on drugs and the system of mass incarceration really isn't about race, I say there is no way we would allow the majority of young white men to be swept into the criminal justice system for minor drug offenses, branded criminals and felons, and then stripped of their basis civil and human rights while young black men who are engaged in the same activity trot off to college. That would never be accepted as the norm.” MenWayHumansWarYoungBlackJusticeWhiteRaceRightsCollegeDrugActivityMassBasesMajorityHuman RightsCriminalsAcceptedEngagedMinorsOffenseWhite ManNormJustice SystemWar On DrugsCriminal JusticeIncarcerationCriminal Justice SystemBrandedMass IncarcerationFelonsOff To College Author:Michelle Alexander
“For those of us who got into good colleges or the professions, did we stand up to that high school history teacher who told us some ridiculous lie about American history and say, "That's a ridiculous lie. You're an idiot"? No. We said, "All right, I'll keep quiet, and I'll write it in the exam and I'll think, yes, he's an idiot." And it's easy to say and believe things that improve your self-image and your career and that are in other ways beneficial to yourselves.” ThinkingWayWritingBelieveSaidSelfSchoolLyingEasyCareersTeacherCollegeQuietHigh SchoolProfessionRidiculousIdiotAmerican HistoryBeneficialExamHistory TeacherGood CollegeSchool History Author:Noam Chomsky
“If you would've asked me about getting a pilot's license before 2005, I'd say you were crazy. After I graduated college, a fighter pilot asked me if I wanted to go up on a flight in a single-engine plane. I always had a fear about being in an airplane, but I took this opportunity to go up on my first flight in a single-engine rather than a big commercial plane I was accustomed to. I was hooked and made a commitment to become a pilot. I wanted to motivate others to not let fear stand in the way of their opportunities.” IfsWayFirstsMadeBigsWantedOpportunityCrazyCollegeCommitmentFlightFighterPlanesEnginesPilotsAirplaneAccustomedLicenseHookedFighter Pilot Author:Jessica Cox
“People ask me a lot of questions and I don't always have the time to stop and talk, but I do a lot of email mentorship with college students. So if I meet a college kid during a motivational speech or something like that I'll stop and say, "I see you need help in this area. Here's my email. Let me help." So, it's just my way of giving back.” PeopleIfsWayNeedsGivingHelpingKidsAsksStudentsCollegeSpeechAreasLet MeMy WayAsk MeEmailGiving BackNeed HelpCollege StudentsMotivational Speech Author:Chrisette Michele
“The unemployment rate today for people with our-year college degrees is 4.1%, which is almost none. That's people switching jobs basically. That tells you that education is the only way up and the only way out. If that is the fact, then we've got to get more of it for more people.” PeopleIfsWayYearsFactsTodayJobsCollegeDegreesRateUnemploymentSwitchingCollege DegreeUnemployment Rate Author:Thomas Friedman
“I don't think anything can substitute long talks, and long talks are somehow never as easy to schedule again as they were in school, when most people - at least in my little socioeconomic corner of the world - live not with their families or sexual partners, but with same-sex friends. I really miss that from college. I never really thought at the time about how things would never be that way again.” PeopleThinkingWorldWayLittlesLongSchoolSexEasyMissingCollegeCornersPartnersSubstitutesSchedulesCorners Of The World Author:Elif Batuman
“I thought clarity of communication was the most important thing in writing, and if you really cared about getting your idea across, you would say it in the most straightforward way possible. Later, in college and grad school, I came to realize that language is a technology like any other, and that it's always evolving - clarity of expression is always evolving.” IfsWayWritingImportantIdeasSchoolLanguageRealizingTechnologyCollegeExpressionCommunicationImportant ThingsClarityEvolveStraightforwardGradGrad School Author:Elif Batuman
“I can't deny that I was an intellectual prostitute along the way many, many times in college. I can remember one examination where they said. "Describe the Devil," and in order to get 12 points on that question one had to say that the Devil was red and had a forked tail and cloven hoofs and fangs and horns on his head. So I merrily wrote this answer down and got my 12 points. I always got straight hundreds in Bible study.” WaySaidI CanRememberOrderAnswersStudyCollegeIntellectualDevilRedDown AndDenyTailsThey SaidHornsExaminationFangsBible Study Author:Madalyn Murray O'Hair
“I was raised by a single mom who had to put herself through school while looking after two kids. And she worked hard every day and made a lot of sacrifices to make sure we got everything we needed. My grandmother, she started off as a secretary in a bank. She never got a college education, even though she was smart as a whip. And she worked her way up to become a vice president of a local bank, but she hit the glass ceiling. She trained people who would end up becoming her bosses during the course of her career.” PeopleWayMadeTwoEndsHardKidsSchoolCoursesPresidentCareersSacrificeCollegeMomBecomingNeededSmartRaisedGlassesVicesLocalsGrandmotherBossSecretaryMy GrandmotherCeilingsWhipsVice PresidentSingle MomCollege EducationGlass Ceiling Author:Barack Obama
“I would like to say that whites jumped right behind Malcolm X. They’re makin’ a book about him, it’s required readin’ in all colleges now, and they’re makin’ a movie about him, and projectin’ him as the leader and if you read his book and see the movie that’s comin’ out, it’ll make you hate Elijah Mohammed and the Muslims. Mainly, this is done to turn the black people against the real leader and I’d like to say that this is the way white people rule.” PeopleIfsWayBookRealDoneHateTurnsBlackWhiteBehindsLeaderCollegeBlack PeopleElijah Author:Muhammad Ali