"Your perception of your college degree and it’s impact on quality prospects".

It was Mark Twain, who once said “DON’T LET YOUR SCHOOLING INTERFERE WITH YOUR EDUCATION”. Several male business associates of mine were having a discussion about their dating life and I happen to be in proximity of this dialogue. All are financially stable, great

credit, confident and own their own home. Several own businesses that currently have government contracts that exceed 2 million. One guy in particular, said that he was dating a very ambitious, smart, established woman who has her masters degree. She is a director of a department within a local hospital. Unfortunately, she severed the relationship when she learned he did not have a college degree. He is a very successful electrician contractor. His company operates 5 vans that has a gross income of about 1.2 million a year. She earns about 120K a year. He is an avid reader and I find him to be mentally connected economically, politically, socially, environmentally and spiritually. There are a growing number of college educated women in particular, who share the same perspective as she does. I want to first make the distinction, that there is a fundamental difference between education and intelligence. Educate comes from the latin word educare which means to bring up, train, rise or mould. Intelligence is the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. Now that I’ve got that out the way, let me quickly get to my point. You can be educated and unintelligent all at the same damn time. Education is all about the the downloads but intelligence determines what you put on your screen. This is not an indictment against all women. So, if the shoe does not fit, don’t put it on. It is certainly your prerogative to choose what elements that are important in your relationship. What disturbs me is the fact that I'm really tired of hearing chatter that good men are facing extinction. A contributing factor maybe the venues that you patronize, such as bars, lounges and clubs that have a low percentage of quality prospects. It is unlikely to find diamonds in a coal mine. Many college graduates once they receive a degree began to frown, debase and minimize the accomplishments of many men and women who don’t have one. In most cases, it’s not because they are incapable, but they often chose different career paths because they felt this was their purpose.

I know several very successful women entrepreneurs who built companies from ground up. All have million dollar companies. Some have done it through multi level marketing, woman own businesses through SBA and online retail operations. I have nothing but respect for them, because I know the hard work that’s required to get there. I had the pleasure of watching them grow. All of them are extremely well rounded and are not thinking about a degree. Are they suppose to get a degree to make you respect them more. Have our self inflicted arrogance cause us to ostracize those who don’t, because they have chosen different career paths. Don’t get me wrong, college is important depending on your career choice. I have a son who graduated from NYU and a daughter that attends St Johns University @ 60K a year per child. I told them both, never assume that your degree cerebrally elevates you over others because you will be extremely disappointed. Just in case you didn't know, the word commencement means the beginning not the end. Warren Buffet disclosed that none of his three kids graduated from college. He said he went to college because it was expected for him to go. Could it be the fact that the quality of a person’s education is dependent on what you need it for. It has to always be viewed objectively and not subjectively. Who appointed you to determine who is educated and who is not. Can you read engineering blueprints and wire an entire commercial building ?

Do you know the difference between wattage, voltage and amperage ? Have you ever taken an idea and built it into a multimillion dollar company ? Do you know the difference between common stock or preferred stock ?Maybe it’s the fact that you feel compelled to have someone who has a degree, because it makes your shallow perspective sound better when having relationship discussions with your sorority sisters. Here is a rugged man who is smart intelligent, educated and spiritual. He knows how to work with his hands, fix a flat tire, cut his own grass and has a swagger to give you the certainty that you desire. He wasn’t good enough because you assume that you are smarter than he is by default and that’s not ok. Don’t complain about the scarcity of good men when your flawed criteria is inhibiting good relationships decisions. When assessing prospects for education and intelligence. It’s important to assess as an individual and not based on what school they attended. Ask yourself the next time you look in the mirror. Are you living or existing? Are you writing your own life script on your own terms or are you a participant in someone else's? Life is too short, don’t be a cicada. It really could take you another 17 years.