We assume that when someone study something at college or get a degree for specialization, that they are going to pursue this field. That is why we also assume when we see a person that they must have had a particular educational background.
For example when we see an actor we never think that he or she had a degree in mathematics or in computer science. Just like that if we see a CEO of a tech company we assume that he must have done some tech heavy degree.
But that is not always the case with people. Sometimes you can find people in different fields of work having totally different degrees. Maybe it does help when you have a degree in a totally different field than what you are doing now because you have another perspective in your mind and you can think out of the box.
Let’s take a look at some famous people who have unexpected degrees and how these degrees might have helped them in their field.
Natalie Portman
I am sure not most of you people know why Natalie Portman missed the premiere of Star Wars: Phantom Menace. It was because she was studying at that time and had to prepare for her high school exams. She was a brilliant student of psychology and also published two articles in the scientific journal. She did graduation in BA Psychology from the Harvard University.
Once when she was interviewed she was very passionate about learning psychology and said:
“I don’t care if [college] ruins my career, I’d rather be smart than a movie star.”
But we are sure studying psychology must have helped her playing some of the characters that she played.
Aziz Ansari
Aziz Ansari, who is a famous comedian in USA, wanted to become an entrepreneur. To complete this dream he studied marketing from the NYC. But after studying in the university he figured that this field was not best for him so he moved to standup.
In an interview to Paste Magazine he told that the culture of marketing and what the kids were talking about in the university and what their goals were didn’t appeal to him and he did not find them attractive.
Rashida Jones
Rashida Jones is also one of the famous people who graduated from Harvard. She wanted to become a Lawyer and went to college to become one. Apparently after the OJ Simpson trial she was totally against becoming a lawyer.
She told a Magazine that in that case privilege totally won and the justice was not done apart from all the evidence against OJ. So she completed a degree in comparative religion but then went to the acting business.
Will Ferrell
In 1990, Ferrell graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Sports Information, which most people don’t even know exists.
“Yes, you heard me, sports information,” he joked in a commencement speech at his alma mater in 2017. “A program so difficult, so arduous, that they discontinued it eight years after I left. Those of us with sports information degrees are an elite group. We’re like the Navy SEALs of USC graduates. There are very few of us, and there was a high dropout rate.”
As Ferrell implies, “Sports Information” doesn’t really exist anymore, but you can still combine your interest in athletics and business by getting a degree in Sports Management.