Dropout graduation in San Francisco highlights alternative paths to success

“F— school,” said dropout and tech entrepreneur Haz Hubble at a graduation ceremony for college dropouts, a sentiment that captured the mood of the event. 

“If you’re smart and high-agency, you don’t need to go to school,” he said.

Though a “dropout graduation” might sound like satire, a crowd of quitters packed into San Francisco’s Marina Theater seized the opportunity to mark a declaration of freedom – from tradition, academia and expectations.

Dozens of 20-somethings donned regular button-ups, casual dresses or otherwise everyday clothing, with the occasional outlier donning a cap and gown – but one thing they all shared was the suspicion that college just isn’t for everyone.

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“Our natural instinct as children is to question everything: authority, tradition, the status quo,” Cory Levy, founder of the Z fellows program that helps aspiring entrepreneurs make their way into Silicon Valley, told The San Francisco Standard.

“But somehow, when it comes to college, we stop questioning it. This is a room full of exceptions,” he added.

It’s no secret that some of the world’s top earners dropped out of college – Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Mark Zuckerberg and the late Steve Jobs among them – and their imprint on the technology sector is clear.

The doubt their success creates toward the traditional college path is only supplemented with a rising skepticism that’s driving many to select different avenues – trade school, apprenticeships and online learning programs among them.

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The Standard writes that this skepticism is even more prevalent in a place like San Francisco, where many tech companies aren’t concerned about someone lacking a 4-year degree.

“Meanwhile, college graduates struggle to field job offers; bosses say those who do make it into the office — remote or otherwise — are often unprofessional; and AI is getting better at tasks previously reserved for white-collar workers,” the article, published Sunday, continues. 

The traditional college approach has lost credibility with some members of Gen Z, many of whom have become notorious for questioning authority.

In some circles, they’ve become the “toolbelt generation,” opting to learn a skill that translates into a high-paying job without shelling out the cost of a 4-year college experience.

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But, as former construction worker “Blue Collar Cash” author Ken Rusk once mentioned to “Fox & Friends,” the traditional college path is deeply embedded into the educational structure.

“So, if you think you might want to do that [trade] job, you’re walking down the hallway and all you hear is ‘college prep,’” he said.

“And you’re thinking, ‘Wow, do I not fit in here?’”

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Ali Debow, who helped co-organize the dropout graduation, described it as a “really lonely, very isolating” feeling because families often have the expectation that everyone goes to college, and they become dissatisfied when someone breaks that college mold.

But, The Standard writes, the key takeaway from the mingling of dropouts isn’t as black and white as college or no college – rather, it’s about recognizing autonomy and trusting yourself to follow a path to your own success.