Don’t Go Back to School

Don’t Go Back to School Plot Summary

Introduction

Have you ever felt trapped by the conventional path of education? The belief that success requires formal degrees and institutional validation is deeply ingrained in our society. Yet all around us, people are building remarkable careers and acquiring profound knowledge completely outside traditional educational frameworks. They're not just surviving—they're thriving, often surpassing their credentialed counterparts in creativity, adaptability, and practical skills. This transformation in learning is happening now, fueled by technology, connectivity, and a growing recognition that our passions and curiosities are more powerful drivers than external requirements. The pages ahead will show you how independent learners have charted their own educational journeys, built powerful learning communities, mastered complex skills through hands-on projects, and created impressive careers without formal credentials. Their stories reveal not just what's possible, but exactly how you can unlock your own learning potential in ways that are more fulfilling, effective, and aligned with your unique goals.

Chapter 1: Find Your Learning Method

Finding your optimal learning method is perhaps the most crucial aspect of succeeding outside traditional education systems. Independent learning isn't simply about absorbing information; it's about discovering the approach that resonates with your cognitive style, personal interests, and practical needs. The most successful self-directed learners understand that discovering how you learn best is itself a valuable learning process. Consider Astra Taylor's experience. Despite her passion for filmmaking, she never formally studied it in school. Instead, she discovered her learning method through direct experience when an NGO in Senegal hired her to make an instructional video about the nutritional benefits of a local tree. "The problem was I did not know how to shoot video and I did not know how to edit video," she explains. Without formal training, she brought along a friend who had some filmmaking experience and closely observed everything this impromptu mentor did. She paid attention to technical concepts like cutaways, B-roll footage, and audio fading. "I never really said to her, 'I'm siphoning off all your skills!' I think at the time I acted like I was carrying my equal weight. But I was really focused on observing everything she did and taking it all in." This apprenticeship approach worked beautifully for Taylor, who went on to make acclaimed documentary films including "Zizek!" and "Examined Life." Her story demonstrates how learning through observation and practice can be far more effective than formal classroom instruction for certain skills. She didn't need to attend film school to become a successful filmmaker; she needed practical exposure, a specific project to focus on, and someone willing to demonstrate the craft. When developing your own learning method, consider whether you prefer linear or associative approaches. Linear learners prefer structured paths that build systematically from fundamentals to advanced concepts, similar to traditional curricula. They might benefit from using syllabi from university courses or textbooks as guides. Associative learners, by contrast, prefer to follow their curiosity wherever it leads, making connections between seemingly unrelated concepts. Dan Sinker, an editor and journalist with no formal training, describes his approach: "I start running at 100 MPh in one direction, get pretty far and realize I'm in the wrong place, turn around and run 100 MPh in another direction. It's not a great way to learn quickly, but it really does give me a very wide understanding of a problem." Project-based learning offers another powerful method, providing immediate context and application for new knowledge. Christopher Bathgate, a self-taught machinist sculptor, explains how he built his skills: "Rather than doing practice exercises, I preferred learning while making my sculptures. I designed the pieces around what I was trying to learn." If he wanted to learn to turn a perfect sphere, he designed a sculpture requiring that technique and worked until he mastered it. The key is experimentation. Try different approaches until you find what works for you. Pay attention to when you feel most engaged and retain information best. Remember that your preferred method might vary depending on what you're learning. The freedom to customize your learning process to match your needs is one of the greatest advantages of self-directed education.

Chapter 2: Build Your Learning Community

One of the most persistent myths about independent learning is that it's a solitary endeavor. The reality couldn't be more different. The most successful self-directed learners actively cultivate communities that support, challenge, and enrich their educational journeys. As Quinn Norton, a self-taught technology journalist, aptly puts it: "The first thing you have to do is take the auto out of autodidact." Molly Danielsson's journey into becoming an expert in ecological sanitation illustrates the transformative power of learning communities. When she and her partner decided to start a business focused on composting toilets, they knew nothing about the field. Rather than pursuing formal education, they formed what they called a "salon" with friends who were also experimenting with DIY composting toilets. "This has been one of the best things for our design process," Danielsson explains. "The group meets to show our composting setups and give each other constructive advice on our composting process and issues we're having. Then we have a potluck." This informal community provided practical knowledge, accountability, and moral support. Danielsson didn't stop there. She created infrastructure for sharing what she was learning, designing educational posters about toilets, sewage, and composting. To fund the printing costs, she asked mentors to invest small amounts. "This was a great trick. It made us work our butts off to sell $850-worth of posters. It also showed us that people thought we were worth investing in." These investors eventually became a board of mentors she consulted for advice. Through these community-building efforts, Danielsson and her partner eventually succeeded in changing Oregon state regulations to legalize site-built composting toilets. Building your own learning community starts with identifying people who share your interests or goals. This might mean joining existing groups, both online and offline. Caterina Rindi, after being rejected from MBA programs, joined a "Faux MBA" reading group started by friends. Together, they studied business theory, practical financial knowledge, and modern business culture. When Rindi developed a business plan for her food business incubator, the group helped analyze and improve it using frameworks they'd studied together. Online platforms can also facilitate community building. Look for forums, social media groups, or specialized platforms related to your field of interest. Many independent learners report that teaching others what they've just learned solidifies their own understanding. Consider starting a blog, podcast, or YouTube channel to share your learning journey and connect with others. Remember that learning communities thrive on reciprocity. Be willing to contribute your knowledge and support others' learning goals. As independent physicist Zack Booth Simpson advises: "Friendships aren't one way. What's surprising is how much people get out of just talking with somebody who asks good questions." By creating or joining communities of mutual support and shared curiosity, you'll accelerate your learning and make the journey more enjoyable.

Chapter 3: Master Skills Through Projects

Project-based learning transforms abstract knowledge into tangible skills and provides natural motivation that classroom assignments often lack. When you undertake meaningful projects that matter to you, learning becomes both purposeful and permanent. The project itself creates a context that makes knowledge stick and skills develop organically. David Hirmes, a self-taught photographer with no formal training, demonstrates this approach beautifully through his macrophotography ice project. Rather than studying photography theory or taking classes, he dove into experimentation with digital photography. "The great thing about the digital camera was that it was a technology that fit perfectly with my way of learning, which is a lot of experimentation," he explains. "Unlike traditional photography, there was no penalty for trying something a thousand times." Hirmes developed a methodical project approach: "I would go to the kitchen every morning and I would open up the cupboards and I would look for interesting vessels to pour water into to freeze them and just completely fill the freezer with as many of these things as possible." At night, he would photograph these frozen shapes in his darkened living room, trying different lighting techniques and angles. After each session, he'd review the photos, noting what worked and what didn't, then adjust his approach for the next attempt. Through this iterative process, he mastered macrophotography techniques without formal training. This project-based approach yielded spectacular results. Hirmes' ice photographs were featured in the New York Times' Sunday Arts and Leisure section, published in Seed magazine, and included in a book about ice. Instead of following a curriculum, he created his own learning path driven by curiosity and aesthetic vision. To master skills through your own projects, start by identifying something meaningful you want to create or achieve. The project should be challenging but achievable, and most importantly, it should genuinely interest you. Jim Munroe, a novelist and filmmaker who learns through projects, advises: "If you learn to do something when there are real stakes, you remember what you've learned more." Your project provides those stakes. Break your project into manageable components, and research the specific skills and knowledge needed for each part. Don't worry about mastering everything at once; focus on learning just enough to move forward. Document your process through notes, sketches, photos, or videos to track your progress and reinforce your learning. Expect and embrace failure as part of the process. Christopher Bathgate describes how getting stuck became one of his greatest teachers: "Getting stuck for me has been one of my best teachers. It has taught me the huge difference between just knowing the answer, and knowing how to find the answer." When you encounter obstacles, view them as learning opportunities rather than roadblocks. Finally, share your projects with others to receive feedback and solidify your understanding. The act of explaining your work forces you to clarify your thinking and identify gaps in your knowledge. Through project-based learning, you'll develop not just isolated skills but the meta-skill of teaching yourself anything you need to know.

Chapter 4: Stay Motivated Through Challenge

Maintaining motivation through the inevitable challenges of independent learning requires understanding what truly drives human curiosity and perseverance. Traditional education relies heavily on external motivators—grades, deadlines, diplomas—but research consistently shows these aren't the most powerful or sustainable sources of motivation. For independent learners, internal drive is the engine that keeps learning alive. Luke Muehlhauser, a self-taught scientist who became the Executive Director of the Singularity Institute without formal credentials, attributes his success to "genuine curiosity, a burning itch to understand reality." He explains, "If you have that kind of curiosity, it can motivate you to do all the other things that you need to do in order to learn." This intrinsic motivation—learning because you genuinely want to know, not because you're required to—creates a completely different experience than forced learning. Dorian Taylor, a designer and consultant who left the public school system at 15, puts it succinctly: "In my experience, the single most important criterion for learning something is wanting to. Like genuinely intrinsically so. Everything I've learned to satisfy some extrinsic goal has been faddish and empty by comparison." Independent learners consistently report that their natural curiosity, when allowed to flourish without arbitrary constraints, creates sustained engagement that classroom requirements rarely achieve. To nurture your own intrinsic motivation, focus on three key elements: autonomy, competence, and context. Autonomy means having control over what, when, and how you learn. When Molly Danielsson and her partner wanted to learn about composting toilet design, they crafted their own learning plan rather than following someone else's curriculum. The freedom to pursue exactly what interested them kept their motivation strong even when facing complex regulatory challenges. Developing a sense of competence—seeing your skills and knowledge grow—provides another crucial motivational element. Independent learners often create feedback loops through projects with concrete outcomes, teaching others what they've learned, or participating in communities that provide honest assessment. Jeremy Cohen, who founded ExchangeMyPhone without business school training, explains how he used his savings "to experiment in the real world, where it counts." The real-world feedback provided a much more meaningful measure of progress than grades ever could. Learning within a meaningful context—whether for a specific project, business, or real-world problem—provides the third motivational pillar. When filmmaker Jim Munroe describes how he "learns the hard way about things often," he adds, "but I have to, I feel, to internalize it properly." This connection between learning and tangible consequences creates lasting knowledge that abstract study rarely achieves. When motivation wanes, reconnect with your underlying purpose. Ask yourself why this knowledge matters to you personally. Share your learning goals with others who can hold you accountable. Break overwhelming tasks into smaller, more manageable pieces. Remember that periodic struggles and plateaus are normal parts of any learning journey. The beauty of independent learning is that it harnesses your natural curiosity rather than forcing it into predetermined channels. As computational biologist Florian Wagner notes, "There is something really special about when you first realize you can figure out really cool things completely on your own. That alone is a valuable lesson in life."

Chapter 5: Create Without Credentials

The notion that credentials are a prerequisite for creative work and professional success is increasingly outdated. Across diverse fields, people without formal qualifications are producing extraordinary work and building sustainable careers by focusing on what truly matters: demonstrating real skill and solving real problems. Molly Crabapple's journey illustrates this pathway perfectly. A dropout from art school, she has built a career as a successful artist without the traditional credentials many consider essential. "I don't know that there is anything you can learn in art school that you can't learn on your own," she explains. More importantly, art school failed to teach her the most crucial skill: how to make a living as an artist. Crabapple took matters into her own hands. "I started working professionally as an artist, which to me means that I was making money from my work," she explains. Her approach was remarkably proactive: "I put posters up in all the delis around Chelsea saying I'd draw people's pets for $25. I also put up posters saying I'd draw people's Dungeons & Dragons characters at Forbidden Planet, the comics and games store." She actively sought mentorship, asking established artists to lunch to learn about their careers. "I asked them about their first jobs. I would ask them how they got art directors to be interested in them." This entrepreneurial approach, combined with relentless practice, paid off. She improved her technical skills by studying golden age illustration books and copying masterpieces to understand techniques. She created Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School, a life drawing class featuring underground performers that has spread to 150 cities worldwide. Rather than waiting for gallery representation, she built her own audience and created multiple revenue streams. "I've been making six figures as an artist since I was 26, without being represented by a gallery," she notes. To create without credentials in your own field, focus first on developing demonstrable skills rather than collecting certifications. Build a portfolio that showcases your abilities, even if your early work isn't perfect. Ken Baumann, a successful actor with no formal training, emphasizes that "performance is a hard thing to figure out, but it's a thing you just have to do, more so than reading books about method acting." Network strategically, both within and outside your field. Crabapple notes: "I network with people who are outside my field—journalists, writers, performers—and I look for every opportunity in the entire world where there is a blank wall and I can put my work on it." These connections often lead to unexpected opportunities that credential-focused pathways might miss. Embrace public learning and creation. Harper Reed, who served as Chief Technology Officer for Obama's 2012 campaign without formal computer science education, advises surrounding yourself with people smarter than you and being willing to learn publicly. "Other people are so important to learning," he emphasizes. Finally, develop what David Mason, a director at New Kind who has held numerous tech positions without formal training, calls "the ability to go find information and to learn." When hiring, he looks for this quality above all else: "I don't care if they actually know things or not when I hire them. The best programmers don't know everything, but they know how to quickly pick up whatever it is they need to do." By focusing on demonstrable skills, strategic relationships, and a willingness to learn and adapt continuously, you can create impressive work and build a meaningful career regardless of your formal credentials.

Chapter 6: Succeed in Careers Without Degrees

The relationship between formal education and career success is shifting dramatically. While conventional wisdom suggests degrees are essential for professional advancement, the experiences of numerous successful individuals tell a different story. They demonstrate that strategic approaches to learning and work can lead to thriving careers without the burden of student debt or years spent in classrooms. Jeremy Cohen's journey exemplifies this path to success. Without business school credentials, he founded ExchangeMyPhone, a company that buys and recycles mobile phones. Within two months of launch, the business was covering its expenses, and within four months, they began hiring. Cohen attributes his success not to formal education but to practical experience and connections with other entrepreneurs. "Other entrepreneurs are basically my business school," he explains. "Having so many bright, successful, ambitious people to learn from and bounce ideas around with here in New York is priceless." Cohen's approach highlights several key strategies for career success without degrees. First, he leveraged his existing knowledge—experience with his father's used bookstore business—and applied it to a new domain. Second, he maintained the confidence to experiment and learn from mistakes: "I tend to do first, then ask questions and learn from my mistakes. I'm okay making mistakes and picking up the pieces even when that's unpleasant." Finally, he built relationships with other entrepreneurs who provided ongoing education and support. Rita J. King, an investigative journalist who became Executive Vice President for Business Development at Science House, took an even more direct approach to testing whether credentials mattered. "When I looked for work, I didn't talk about my education at all," she explains. "I approached my career like an adventure, accepting work that led to other work and built on itself... There has never been a situation in which I needed to prove that I have a degree to get work. People never ask." For those concerned about getting hired without formal credentials, Dan Sinker offers encouraging perspective from his own experience. After publishing an influential underground magazine for 13 years, he was selected for a prestigious Knight Fellowship at Stanford University despite lacking traditional journalism credentials. Later, he taught digital tools at Columbia College for three years as a full-time faculty member, all without formal training. His path demonstrates how demonstrable skills and reputation can open doors that credentials supposedly guard. To succeed in your own career without degrees, focus first on developing a portfolio that demonstrates your abilities. This might include independent projects, volunteer work, or samples created specifically to showcase your skills. Brad Edmondson, who became editor-in-chief of American Demographics magazine without formal training in journalism, started by offering to work at a local weekly newspaper. "Learning on the job is basically how any journalist will start—as a cub," he explains. Network strategically by participating in communities related to your field of interest. Harper Reed emphasizes the importance of approaching experts effectively: "If you want to connect with someone who is very busy, tell them three bullets and then a call to action." Be specific in your requests and respectful of people's time. Don't hesitate to start small and learn through apprenticeship. David Mason got his first job at Red Hat by saying he knew XML when he actually didn't—but he was confident in his ability to learn it quickly. "I knew that I could find out whatever I needed to know," he explains. This willingness to learn on the job has characterized his entire career progression. The path to career success without degrees requires confidence, initiative, and a commitment to continuous learning. By focusing on developing real skills, building a network of supportive relationships, and demonstrating your abilities through concrete work, you can create a fulfilling career without the burden of traditional credentials.

Summary

Throughout these pages, we've explored a profound truth about learning in the modern world: formal education is just one path among many, and often not the most effective or fulfilling one. The stories we've encountered reveal people who have mastered complex skills, built thriving careers, and created remarkable work entirely outside traditional educational structures. They've shown us that learning is fundamentally social, that projects create context for lasting knowledge, and that intrinsic motivation drives deeper understanding than any external requirement ever could. As computational biologist Florian Wagner wisely observed, "There is something really special about when you first realize you can figure out really cool things completely on your own. That alone is a valuable lesson in life." This realization is perhaps the greatest gift of independent learning—the confidence that comes from discovering your own capacity to learn anything you set your mind to. Today, take one small step toward self-directed learning. Identify a skill you've always wanted to develop, find a community of fellow learners, or design a simple project that will teach you something new. The resources available to independent learners have never been more plentiful, and the opportunities that await have never been more exciting. Your learning journey begins now, not with enrollment, but with curiosity and action.

About Author

Loading...

Kio Stark

I'm a writer, teacher, researcher, and passionate activist for independent learning. I currently coordinate the Knight-Mozilla OpenNews Learning initiative. I also write fiction, my first novel is Follow Me Down (2011).

Read more