I didn't have the patience to wait to take a degree before

Hear the words of Ted Waitt, who with fire in his spirit declared: “I didn’t have the patience to wait to take a degree before starting work, because I wanted to run my own business.” This is no careless statement, but the voice of one whose heart burned brighter than the slow paths laid before him. He speaks for the restless souls who feel destiny tugging at their sleeves, who cannot sit in the halls of study while the fields of action call them to battle. His words remind us that sometimes the true university is life itself, and the greatest diploma is written in the ink of risk and achievement.

For the ancients knew well that not all knowledge dwells in scrolls or classrooms. Alexander the Great did not wait until every lesson was learned before he seized the sword and crossed into Asia. Columbus did not wait for the scholars of Europe to grant him proof before he set sail into unknown seas. They acted before the world had fully prepared them, and it was in the doing that their names became immortal. So too with Waitt, whose refusal to wait for a degree was not contempt for learning, but a recognition that the fire within him demanded swifter expression.

Consider his journey: as a young man, he co-founded Gateway, a company that would help carry the computer into homes across America. Many would have said he was unready, that his lack of credentials was a chain upon his potential. Yet the opposite proved true: his impatience was a weapon. It drove him to build before others, to seize opportunities before they hardened into stone. Just as the warrior who strikes swiftly can surprise the slower foe, so too did his business rise because he did not wait for the blessings of institutions.

Yet let us not misunderstand. His words are not a command to despise learning, nor to cast away discipline. Rather, they reveal that there are many paths to wisdom. The degree is one path, noble and steady, leading some to their destined place. But for others, the path is too slow, and the lessons of life itself—failures, risks, victories—become their teachers. The important truth is not whether one sits in the classroom or the marketplace, but whether one listens, learns, and grows with courage.

History offers many examples of men and women who chose the road of action before the scroll of certification. Henry Ford, who reshaped industry, left school early to toil in workshops. Richard Branson, who built empires of business, did not wait for formal honors before he acted. They, like Waitt, were driven not by the patience of the scholar but by the urgency of the dreamer. And yet, they were students still—students of the world, of people, of risk and consequence.

The lesson, O seekers, is not that patience is without value, but that patience must be matched to the soul’s calling. If your destiny demands slow cultivation, then embrace the long years of study. But if the fire within you demands immediate creation, do not smother it in delay. Dare to act, and let the world itself become your teacher. What matters is not the form of learning, but the presence of courage and the hunger to grow.

Therefore, in your own life, look inward. Ask yourself: Am I waiting because I must prepare, or am I waiting because I fear? If the former, then wait with dignity and patience. If the latter, then rise and act. For sometimes hesitation is wisdom, and sometimes it is cowardice. Only you can discern the difference.

So let Ted Waitt’s words echo as both warning and inspiration. Do not let convention bind you if your spirit is called to act. Do not despise the slow road if it is yours to walk. But above all, do not forget that life itself is the greatest school, and that whether in books or in deeds, wisdom belongs to the one who dares to learn, to risk, and to build.