What do you want to do with your life?

What do these people have in common?

Ben Affleck, actor, screenwriter. Left the University of Vermont after one semester; then dropped out of Occidental College to pursue acting.

Woody Allen, screenwriter, actor, director, and producer. Was thrown out of New York University after one semester for poor grades. As he admitted, “I was thrown out of college for cheating on the metaphysics final. I looked within the soul of the boy sitting next to me.”

Natasha Bedingfield, singer. Dropped out of college after her freshman year to pursue a music career. Her Unwritten album debuted at #1 in England.

Sergey Brin, founder of Google, billionaire. Dropped out of Stanford Ph.D. program in computer science to start Google in 1998 working out of a friend's garage.

Sean John Combs, rapper, producer, fashion designer, entertainer, actor, and entrepreneur. Did not finish college. As he said in an interview in Time magazine, “I'm just not that type of person. As soon as I got out of the womb, I was ready to do this. Then there's other times—I'm not really high-tech computer savvy, and there's some things that I do have weaknesses with. I don't know if school would have made that better for me. I'm cool the way I've turned out.”

Michael Dell, founder of Dell Computers, billionaire, among top ten wealthiest Americans. Founded his company out of his college dorm room. Dropped out of the University of Texas to run the company.

Thomas Edison, inventor of the phonograph, light bulb, and many other inventions. He quit formal schooling after his teacher called him addled. Was home-schooled by his mother. Joined the railroad at the age of 12.

Albert Einstein, Nobel prize-winning physicist. At the age of 15, he dropped out of prep school because of its militaristic bent. Then attended Zurich Polytechnic. At the age of 16, he conducted a thought experiment that led to his theory of relativity.

Queen Elizabeth II, queen of England. Tutored at the palace. Did not attend school.

William Faulkner, Nobel and Pulitzer prize-winning novelist. Never graduated from high school.

Harrison Ford, actor. Dropped out of Ripon College. He worked as a carpenter for almost ten years before finding success as an actor in Star Wars and other movies.

Henry Ford, billionaire founder of Ford Motor Company. Left his home on the farm to work as an apprentice machinist in Detroit, Michigan. Later ran a sawmill and became a chief engineer for Edison Illuminating Company before starting the Ford Motor Company.

Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, richest man in the world, philanthropist. Dropped out of Harvard after his second year. As he noted, “I realized the error of my ways and decided I could make do with a high school diploma.”

David Geffen, founder of Geffen Records and co-founder of DreamWorks, billionaire. Dropped out of the University of Texas at Austin after his freshman year. Admittedly, “I was a lousy student.” Started working by sorting mail at the William Morris Agency.

Gene Hackman, actor. Discharged after six years in the Marines, he entered college as a journalism major but after six months he dropped out for good. Since then he's earned an Academy Award for best actor (The Conversation) and an Academy Award for best supporting actor (Unforgiven).

Joyce C. Hall, founder of Hallmark. Started selling greeting cards at the age of 18 while living at a YMCA in Kansas City. Did not attend college.

William Randolph Hearst, newspaper publisher and movie producer, was thrown out of Harvard for poor grades (apparently due to heavy partying).

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computers and Pixar Animation, billionaire. Dropped out of Reed College after six months and went to India before returning to Silicon Valley. As he said, “I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and how college was going to help me figure it out.”

Ingvar Kamprad, billionaire founder of IKEA, one of the richest people in the world. A dyslexic, he never attended college. When he was 17, his father gave him a reward for succeeding in his studies. He used this money to establish what became IKEA. As a child, he peddled matches, Christmas decorations, fish, and other sundries via his bicycle.

Ralph Lauren, billionaire fashion designer, founder of Polo. Left business school to design ties for Beau Brummel.

Abraham Lincoln, lawyer, U.S. president. Finished barely a year of formal schooling.

Larry Page, founder of Google, billionaire. Dropped out of Stanford Ph.D. program in computer science to start Google in 1998 working out of a friend's garage.

Theodore Roosevelt, U.S. president. Attended school only for a few months. Was tutored at home.

John Simplot, billionaire potato king. Dropped out of 8th grade and left home. He sorted potatos and raised hogs before saving enough money to buy his first potato field. Became a millionaire by the age of 30.

Steven Spielberg, billionaire movie director and producer, co-founder of DreamWorks. Rejected by the best film schools, he enrolled in and then dropped out of Cal State Long Beach.

Ringo Starr, drummer for the Beatles. He did not attend college.

DeWitt Wallace, founder and publisher of Reader's Digest, philanthropist. Dropped out of Macalester College after one year. Dropped out of the University of California at Berkeley after the second year.

George Washington, U.S. president, general, plantation owner. Ended his education after a few years of elementary school.

Bruce Willis, actor. Dropped out of college. He asserts that a college diploma “is just a trophy. I have some bowling trophies I think would be worth about the same thing.”

Oprah Winfrey, billionaire talk show host, producer. Did not attend college.

Yup, they are all high school/college drop-outs. Some did not even attended formal schooling and yet, they became successful. This doesn't mean to say education is not important for it is. However, they are the ones who were able to prove that in life, the choices you make count the most. Do the things that make you happy. Other people may not think that it's not the right thing for you but if you feel in your heart that it is the only thing that will make you happy and you feel that you really want it, then go for it. Not being able to follow the norms of society such as having a college degree should not stop anyone from dreaming really big dreams.

I remember Brad Bird's acceptance speech when he won the 2008 Oscar for Best Animated Feature (Ratatouille), he said,

"I think I'm going to throw up too. I want to thank the Academy and I also wanna thank my Jr. High guidance counselor for a meeting we had where he asked me, "What do you want to do with your life?" And I said, "I wanna make movies." And he said, "What else do you wanna do with your life? and I said, "make movies." and he said, "What if you couldn't make movies?" And I said, "I have to find a way that I could". "What if movies didn't exist?". "I'd have to invent them". We went on like this until we got sick of each other. And i only realize just recently that he gave me the perfect training for the movie business. I want to thank my wife Liz and my kids. All the dreamers at Pixar and Disney.... And all the dreamers who are supporting a rat that dreams...."

Your life is like driving a car. Other people may tell you to turn left or right and make a u-turn but remember that you are the only one who holds your own steering wheel. You're the only one who can control and navigate your way so whether you take a short cut or not, whatever you know is the right way to get to your destination, then drive along. Focus on where you really want to go.. and don't forget to blast your music out loud. =)