Hello, fellow readers. My name is Joseph Randall, and I’m a young man from the south side of Chicago. I’m 21-years-old, and you are currently tuned into my thoughts.
Ever since I was 13-years-old, I wanted to start a business. I never really had any intention of going to college. Oh, how high school teachers, administrators, and staff disliked that statement! I’d often get flack for it, especially since my school was focused on college preparation. But my parents wanted me to attend school, as well, and I thought I’d give it a go.
Fast forward to today, and I am a young aspiring male entrepreneur. I ended up attending college for one semester, but after that, I dropped out of it to pursue my true dream: starting a successful business.
But let’s go back to the beginning.
When it came to my freshman year of college, I felt like college wasn’t an effective use of my time. I attended a community college full-time with the intention of earning an associate’s degree in computer science, but as time passed on, my classroom engagement faded. My enthusiasm dwindled, and I experienced a mental detachment from the classroom environment. I started doing my own thing in class: writing journals, setting goals, planning and more.
As I continued going through the motions of being schooled, I grew discontent with having to sit in class and do assignments. I wanted my life to change sooner rather than later, and I didn’t want to wait 2-4 years to acquire degrees to then work for someone else.
I’d often sit in class journaling about my life. I’d think about all the things I wanted out of life: money, nice material possessions, helping others, and more. And about midway through my first semester, I had a realization. I didn’t like sitting in class and just doing work. I wanted to get going with my life.
You know how they say, “Welcome to the real world” once you graduate? Well, I wanted to get out and about in this “real world” and make a good life for myself--without having to wait. I felt I could do better by just leaving college and starting my own online business.
So, I spent time researching and learning about online business while I was at home after class. It made me realize the opportunities I had to start my own a business. I began to recognize that the majority of schools train students to become employees. And since I knew the Internet was a great place to learn, I hopped online and began consuming large amounts of knowledge about: business, marketing, entrepreneurship, and so on. I’ve networked my way into online relationships with people who earn anywhere from $10,000-$300,000+/ per month in income.
And after spending a semester seeing what I could do outside of school, I made a decision--to drop out, and start living life to the fullest at a fairly young age.
Today, most of what I’m working on is supported by things I learned by simply Googling them. I'm currently pursuing SEO (search engine optimization) and developing a software business, where I help get traffic to websites through Google. You’ll be amazed by the massive amount knowledge available on the web today for free. I have paid a little bit of money for some knowledge, but none of my knowledge came from college--none of it I promise you. This is why I felt it was safe to drop out--I could learn on my own.
If college would have given me training in online business, marketing, investing, and financial literacy, I would have religiously devoted my time to it. However, things didn’t pan out that way, nor were they designed to at a community college.
To be honest, I mainly attended school to get that degree. My parents were pressuring me to do so, and I guess that degree would made me feel like somewhat of a somebody. However, I knew that my years invested outside of college would be well-spent pursuing my online endeavors instead. So that’s what I did.
Ultimately, behind my reason for dropping out school is a drive--a drive that keeps me constantly thinking about success in business every day, and the realization that college just wasn’t empowering. I abandoned the traditional path in favor of a more focused route. I left college in pursuit of a higher purpose. I know that building a business isn’t easy, but I also know that anything worth having isn’t effortless either. And so, I continue to move towards my vision with a fervently faith filled heart and laser focused mind in pursuit of success.
