Author: Nola Jones

In a time when credentials are more important than ever and resumes need to be polished, Jelly Roll’s story is almost purposefully countercultural. The man who sold out Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena to 15,000 spectators and went on to win three Grammy Awards in 2026 did not complete high school. Don’t ever go on a college campus. He received his education in courtrooms, detention centers, and ultimately a prison classroom, where he eventually obtained his GED at the age of 23. The greater story of his ascent may obscure that particular detail. The music, the weight loss transformation, and the congressional…

Glen Powell left college to pursue a career in Hollywood. He is still trying to finish seventeen years later. One of Hollywood’s most attractive actors spending a portion of his week on Zoom for a lecture on radio, television, and film has a subtle allure. Not because it’s uncommon for celebrities to pursue education, but rather because Glen Powell has spent more than 20 years attempting to complete this same degree at this same university. After graduating from Westwood High School in 2007, Powell enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin. He described it as “the greatest year of…

The fact that Rob Reiner, the director of When Harry Met Sally, Stand by Me, and A Few Good Men, never completed his college education has a subtle allure. He built one of the most prestigious directing careers in American film on instinct, observation, and a willingness to stay in rooms where learning was taking place—even if no diplomas were being given out—in an industry that was fixated on credentials and connections. Although Reiner was born in the Bronx in 1947, his early years were spent in Los Angeles after the family moved there when he was a young boy.…

Uncertainty about your child’s academic performance can cause a specific type of anxiety, not in a dramatic sense but in a persistent, everyday manner. A teacher’s missed call. A report card that is delivered weeks after the event. a feeling that you don’t know what happened in class today. The province-wide student information system used throughout British Columbia, MyEducation BC, was developed in part to alleviate that emotion. The system is not brand-new. It has been quietly handling student records, attendance logs, course grades, and graduation tracking in school districts throughout British Columbia for many years. Most parents are probably…

This week marks the end of the school year in Ireland, and for hundreds of students, the holiday carries a weight that is not typically associated with the end of the term. In September, some won’t reopen at all. Some will reopen with fewer teachers, larger class sizes, and worried letters that are already making the rounds in parent WhatsApp groups. A portion of the story is revealed by the numbers. Last year, Ireland’s primary school enrollment decreased by about 6,700 pupils, or slightly more than 1%. That may sound modest. However, even a one percent decline starts a domino…

For fifteen years, the same response was given to anyone who brought up the issue of school patronage in Ireland: there isn’t a genuine desire for reform. It was said with assurance, repeatedly, and occasionally in a tone that implied the question was a little irrational. That specific argument became much more difficult to make after the Department of Education released the findings of its national primary school survey. The figures are startling. According to the survey, 42% of parents who plan to send their preschoolers to a Catholic or religiously run primary school said they would prefer that the…

This type of loss is especially cruel. The tests have been completed. You’ve finished the most challenging part of secondary school. The results slip is still weeks away, you are eighteen, and summer is just around the corner. That window of opportunity and relief was incredibly fleeting for Alisha Dillon, a Leaving Certificate student at Mercy College Coolock in north Dublin. On Sunday, June 21, Alisha unexpectedly passed away at Beaumont Hospital while surrounded by her family. Her age was eighteen. She had just completed her Leaving Cert exams, which hundreds of thousands of Irish students prepare for and dread…

Approaching Saint Eunan’s College for the first time has a subtle yet striking quality. Situated on Sentry Hill in Letterkenny, County Donegal, the structure has four turreted round towers that rise against the Irish sky, giving it a more cathedral-like appearance than a classroom. That similarity is not coincidental. You get the impression that this institution was built to last as you approach the front entrance past a lone monkey puzzle tree on the lawn. The architecture was purposefully modeled after the nearby St. Eunan’s Cathedral. It has. The college was first established as a minor seminary in 1906 by…

Students are familiar with a specific type of Tuesday afternoon. No one wants to cook, classes end by two, and the library feels stuffy. Going out is suggested by someone in the group chat. Immediately, there is the customary discussion about cost. A screenshot of Haidilao’s student discount is then increasingly sent, and the discussion comes to an end. Universities in the UK, Malaysia, Singapore, and other countries are witnessing this scene. Through targeted discount programs that vary by country but share the same basic logic—show a valid student ID, pay noticeably less—Haidilao, the Chinese hotpot chain known as much…

Around three in the afternoon, you’ll notice something as soon as you walk through the gate of any Singaporean primary school. With their backpacks swaying, children were streaming out in small groups and heading in various directions, some in the direction of their parents and others in the direction of buses that would take them to various student care facilities around the island. The after-school hours are a source of quiet anxiety for many working families. Who is keeping an eye on the children? More importantly, does that care go beyond keeping them safe until supper? By attempting to respond…