Many of you will have heard stories about a handful of college dropouts who went on to achieve great things in life. Bill Gates comes to mind, he dropped out of Harvard in 1975, went on to found Microsoft and then did amazing things behind the wheel of his tech company. Steve Jobs dropped out of Reed College and so did Mark Zuckerberg. Despite having left college in his sophomore year, Zuckerberg will finally get his degree this year.
Harvard has confirmed that Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg will be giving this year’s commencement address. He’s also going to get an honorary degree and an honorary doctoral gown.
That’s pretty sweet but don’t think that’s going to happen for you as well if you dropout, it appears that founding a billion-dollar company that fundamentally changes the way we do things is a prerequisite to being invited back to Harvard even when you left thinking that it wasn’t worth your time.
Zuckerberg actually revealed this himself as well in a very quirky manner. He posted a short video on his Facebook page which features fellow Harvard dropout and honorary degree recipient Bill Gates munching on some snacks while Zuckerberg pretends to spot the Harvard invitation on his iPhone.
He recalls the time Gates gave the commencement address ten years ago when he was in attendance as his wife Priscilla graduated. Clearly, Zuckerberg and Gates were not made for acting, but at least they get the message across.