I had a friend in high school whom I had alot of respect for. He was a ver intelligent and wise dude. His aspirations was to become a writer. No, he did not go onto university like the rest of the graduating class, but I still have that admiration for him till this day. BTW, he's in Australia right now as "struggling writer", but so what?!?! My respect for him has not died out ...
As for education, well, going to school does not make one "educated". My dad and many of his friends barely finished high school, yet are as wise as hell. On the other hand, many of my friends have gone, but are not as wise. Yeah, you can say that my dad's friends has learned from life experiences while my friends have not, but what I am trying to get at is, going to school does not make you "educated". For one thing, if you look back into history, many "educated" people never went to school. Some were self-taught or had a private tutor. I think the best example of an uneducated educated man is Socrates. Plato and Aristotle were educated men but yet, their hero was an ugly bumb who barely made a living ...
I do not mean to be biased because of my attraction to Buddhism, but when I went to Asia I spend some time with a few monks and they never went to school. But I considered them educated. Same with some Church ministers. They ain't got no degree, but they are educated ...
As for going to school for a job ... well, what does the word "school" come from? It comes from the Greek word "skhole" which bascially means to "do nothing". Of course back then, school was only for the aristocrats and the clergy/Church ministers but now, in modern times, school is accessible by allm at least the high school level. Now in Canada, we all have free edecation till high school. If a person decided to "abandon" this free opportunity offered by the government, its their choice. Yet, I am not saying that all high school drop outs are "bad people", its just they find out that school is not for them. Some people like school, while others like to learn a skill instead. One different between university and college is that one is based on reading and the other based on practical skills. In almost all cultures, we always value those who use the mind over the body. But yet, as coop programs and collaborative univerity/college programs have shown, a "succeessful" person needs both. As a Chinese Ne-Confucian scholar once said, "knowledge is action" ...
I think there is a difference between being intelligent, educated and wise. As for me, I prefer to be wise over all else. Education, as many have prove can mean a different thing for different people. But I think I have already presented my position what education meansn to me ...