Recently, I was listening to The Diary of a CEO by Stephen Bartlett. One episode really stuck with me: it featured the founder of Snapchat.
He shared how he had to pause his Stanford degree when Snapchat exploded. That part was predictable. But years later, after Snapchat became huge, he went back and finished his degree. Why? He didn’t want to one day explain to his son why quitting was okay just because he was already successful.
That reason alone moved me. But what stayed with me even more was how he talked about creativity.
He said his son loved drawing, and he viewed creativity not as an end goal, but as a starting point — a way to express how you see the world.
It made me reflect on my own university experience. People often criticize higher education for not teaching “real-life” skills. But university isn’t supposed to give you all the answers. It’s supposed to help you ask better questions.
For me, university was a framework — planting seeds of curiosity, critical thinking, and creativity. And seeds take time to grow.
Sure, finishing uni meant I didn’t earn as much as friends who worked two jobs. But I wouldn’t trade the growth I went through for anything. I came out wiser, more thoughtful, and more aware.
That, to me, is success worth having.