The labyrinths of education. Walked and walked

Walked and walked — and found yourself?

A diploma is like a pseudonym: it tells you a lot about a person, but not everything. The editorial team of THE GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY found out who studied what — and what came of it.

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A graduate of Oxford University's chemistry department (Bachelor of Science) and the London School of Law will become:

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the “Iron Lady,” the “toughest man in NATO”

Of course! That's Margaret Thatcher.

The “Queen of Crime” and a Red Cross nurse

Got you! Agatha Christie was educated at home, then studied music in Paris.

A student of a Jesuit college in France and a Catholic college in Switzerland, a non-enrolled attendee at the Paris Academy of Fine Arts (Department of Architecture), will become:

A Red Cross volunteer, founder of a computer graphics company, head of an architecture firm, author of 26 novels translated into 50 languages, including the bestseller “If Only It Were True” (Et si c’était vrai…*) — that’s Marc Levy.

Nope! According to sources, he graduated from Paris Dauphine University.

A bookstore clerk, airport director, test pilot, reconnaissance pilot, and the “dad” of the Little Prince — that’s Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Of course! Isn't that a great excuse to read Saint-Exupery's autobiographical novel, winner of the French Academy's Grand Prize - Wind, Sand and Stars (Terre des hommes)?

A graduate of the law faculty of Imperial Moscow University, a student at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts, will become:

Vice-president of the Russian Academy of Arts, a pioneer of abstract art – that’s Wassily Kandinsky.

Of course! Plus, Kandinsky heard color and saw music. He had synesthesia - a neurological phenomenon where one sense triggers another. Once, while listening to Wagner's Lohengrin in Moscow, he saw colors that completely swallowed him. 'Violins, basses, especially wind instruments - embodied for me all the power of twilight,' the artist later recalled. That experience convinced him that painting could affect the viewer just like music.

A prosecutor, judge, writer, and honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in the category of fine literature – that’s Anatoly Koni.

Nope. Anatoly Koni never studied at the Academy of Arts. He was a brilliant lawyer, but his connection to art was very different - mostly as a lecturer and honorary academic.

A graduate of Harvard University (BA in Psychology) and a graduate student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (studying Near Eastern civilization) will become:

An actress (Oscar winner, Golden Globe winner), director — that’s Natalie Portman.

Of course! Natalie Hershlag was born in Jerusalem on June 9, 1981. 'Portman' is her maternal grandmother's maiden name. She took it to stay out of the spotlight as a kid.

A Russian-language prose writer, winner of Russia’s Big Book literary award (for the novel On the Sunny Side of the Street) — that’s Dina Rubina.

Nope. Dina Rubina never took any special courses in Jewish culture. She grew up in a Jewish family, has lived her whole life within the context of Jewish history and traditions, and the Jewish theme is central to her work - her books have been translated into 30 languages.

A graduate of Texas Institute (bachelor's in kinesiology) and the University of California (master's in Latin American Civilization) will become:

Actress, producer, restaurateur, model — that’s Eva Longoria.

Of course! A good excuse to once again admire the brain and beauty of this famous actress, isn't it?

World-famous TV host, media mogul, one of the richest women on the planet, and philanthropist — that’s Oprah Winfrey.

Nope. Oprah Winfrey studied at Tennessee State University, where she earned a bachelor's in speech and drama. Well - technically, she left a year before graduating to focus on her TV career. But she did go back later and finish.

A graduate of the Medical-Surgical Academy (MSA) in St. Petersburg will become:

Resident physician, professor at the Medical-Surgical Academy, research chemist, one of Russia’s most popular composers — developing the heroic-patriotic aesthetic of symphonic music. That’s Alexander Borodin.

Of course! Borodin is one of those rarest cases in history - a man who reached the top in two completely incompatible fields: hard science and music.

District and sanitary physician, patron of the arts, prose writer and playwright. That’s Anton Chekhov.

Nope again! Chekhov's entire literary life was tied to St. Petersburg, but he studied medicine in Moscow.

A graduate of the Octavio Matta Contreras Higher Pedagogical Institute (elementary school teacher) and a private university, Cesar Vallejo (master's in pedagogical psychology), will become:

“King of football,” Brazil’s Minister of Sports, musician, and philanthropist — that’s Pelé.

No way! Pele was one of the first Brazilian athletes to earn a university degree. He graduated from the Metropolitan University of Santos (Unimes) with a major in Physical Education.

An elementary school teacher, union activist, “the first president of the poor of Peru” — that’s Pedro Castillo.

Of course! To get his education, Castillo walked for about two hours every day along mountain trails above steep cliffs. He's the only modern world leader to voluntarily give up his presidential salary (about EUR 14,000 a month), saying he'd keep living on a teacher's salary (about EUR 500-1,000). He also proposed cutting ministers' and deputies' salaries in half.

A student of philosophy at Heidelberg University and a graduate of the medical school at St. Thomas's Hospital in London will become:

A British intelligence agent, Red Cross volunteer, prose writer, screenwriter, and playwright — that’s William Somerset Maugham.

Of course! And why did Maugham choose Heidelberg? He fled to Germany to escape an unhappy childhood in England. At school, he was bullied for his bad English, his speech impediment, and his short stature. In Heidelberg, he felt freedom for the first time - and began to get seriously interested in literature.

Owner of a jazz bar, host of a Western music talk show, writer, and translator of English-language fiction into Japanese — that’s Haruki Murakami.

No, no, and no! Sure, Murakami is a one-man orchestra - but from a very different world. In his youth, he and his wife ran a jazz bar called 'Peter Cat' in Tokyo for eight years. People came to listen to jazz, have a drink, and... keep warm. They couldn't afford heating, so they slept cuddled up with their cat, Peter. And he started writing his first novels at 29, inspired by a double hit during a baseball game.

A graduate of a polytechnic school and Leipzig's Karl Marx University (specializing in physical chemistry) will become:

A biochemist, Nobel Prize winner in physiology or medicine, professor of biochemistry — that’s Gerty Cori.

Wrong! Gerty Cori didn't study at Leipzig University - though yes, her specialty was physical chemistry! She was the third woman in history to win a Nobel Prize in science (after Marie Curie and Irene Joliot-Curie), and the first to win it for biochemistry.

An employee of the Central Institute of Physical Chemistry at the GDR Academy of Sciences, press secretary for an opposition party, and Chancellor of Germany — that’s Angela Merkel.

Of course! Merkel was the only woman in her year at Leipzig's physics faculty. After defending her dissertation, her scientific career was so promising that she was invited to work at the Academy of Sciences - where she stayed until the Berlin Wall fell in 1989.

A graduate of the University of Chile (specializing in surgery) and courses in national and continental defense will become:

A medical epidemiologist; Minister of Health, Minister of Defense, and President of Chile — that’s Michelle Bachelet.

Of course! And where did Bachelet study military strategy when she returned from the US? At the Chilean Army War Academy. Yes - she graduated from there too, with a degree in military science. Not many civilian ministers in the world can boast such a record of military education.

A school principal, diplomat, poet, and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature — that’s Gabriela Mistral.

Wrong. Mistral was a 'wandering teacher' who traveled half the world. She taught in Chile, Mexico, the US, and Europe, worked as a consul, and was a professor at Columbia University. In 1945, she became the first Latin American winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. And she did all of that without a medical or military degree!

A well-deserved victory! Glad to have you as a kindred spirit: a diploma is not a life sentence. You can always take the professional path that your calling has laid out for you. Making that conscious choice is easy – in the coworking space of the Global Wall.

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Alas, today you’re not among the winners. The culprit? That stubborn belief that “two times two is four” – and that a medical school graduate should practice medicine. But the world is unpredictable, and that’s what makes it beautiful. To grasp this truth – which no textbook will ever teach you – we invite you to dive into the educational space of the Global Wall.

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