Author: Nola Jones

There is a version of O.J. Simpson’s life that never occurred, one in which he was completely excluded from major college football due to his poor grades, drifted aimlessly, and no one ever heard the name “The Juice.” He was not drawn back by a wealthy patron or a dramatic intervention. The football team at the San Francisco junior college was in need of a running back. Simpson was raised in the low-income Potrero Hill housing projects in San Francisco, where survival frequently took precedence over education. He had been arrested three times by the time he was a young…

The majority of people have a particular perception of Robert Lewandowski. Crowd roaring, arms raised, clinical finish. That perception is genuine and well-deserved. However, there is another version of him that seldom makes the news: the one who, the day after Poland qualified for the World Cup, was sitting in front of a university panel in Warsaw, responding to questions regarding coaching theory. October of 2017 was the month. Lewandowski had just led Poland to their first World Cup appearance since 2006 with his 16th goal of the qualifying campaign. Then, almost instantly, he turned around and encountered another type…

The part of Tim Kaine’s biography where he leaves Harvard Law School in the middle of his degree to run a vocational school in Honduras is one that is frequently overlooked in political coverage. No backpacking during a gap year. A real school. A Kansas City first-year law student is in charge of a small town called El Progreso, where teenagers are learning welding and carpentry. It’s the type of decision that reveals more about a person than nearly every line on a resume. The eldest son of a welder who ran a small ironworking business, Kaine was raised in…

There are two versions of Collin Morikawa’s story that are frequently told: the one about Royal St George’s and a two-stroke victory at The Open, and the one about the 23-year-old who won the PGA Championship on just his second major start. That version is accurate and truly amazing. However, it ignores something important. Prior to all of that, Morikawa was attending lectures at the University of California, Berkeley, pursuing a business degree that he was determined to complete. Just that decision reveals something about him. In a time when gifted young golfers become professionals as soon as they hear…

The young person quietly seated in the front row was never Ryan Reynolds. Reynolds had already been expelled from one school, transferred to another, briefly enrolled in college, and then completely abandoned formal education to pursue an uncertain path by the time most teenagers were calculating their GPA. In many respects, his educational background is more intriguing and messy than the polished image he subsequently developed. Reynolds was raised in a working-class family in Vancouver, British Columbia, as the youngest of four brothers. His mother worked in retail, and his father had been a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted…

Growing up in Reno, Nevada, Brandon Aiyuk attended Robert McQueen High School, where his football skills eventually caught the attention of NFL scouts. As a senior, he returned kicks, played wide receiver and defensive back, and was named to the first team of Northern Nevada. The football piece was functioning by most standards. The discussion in the classroom was completely different. The academic aspect of Aiyuk’s story is often overlooked when discussing his ascent, so it’s worth taking a moment to consider that. His grades simply fell short of Division I eligibility requirements after graduating from McQueen. It’s the kind…

Every time someone discusses Jessica Alba, something is missed. Almost invariably, the topic of Dark Angel, the Honest Company, or magazine covers comes up first. Seldom does anyone take the time to inquire about how she truly got there, what her educational background was, and why it didn’t resemble what most people would anticipate from someone who built such a large life. Born in Pomona, California, in 1981, Jessica Alba moved around a lot as a child due to her father’s work in the Air Force. By the time she was nine, she had moved to Mississippi, Texas, and finally…

Some football players have their academic backgrounds neatly packaged, complete with degrees from universities, coaching credentials, and the occasional stint at a business school tucked away in their biographies. One of those football players is not Lucas Trejo. The paper trail of formal education simply doesn’t exist in any public record for a man who has lived in Greece, Argentina, the United States, and Venezuela for almost twenty years. However, it’s difficult to deny that the game itself has thoroughly and frequently brutally educated him. Trejo was born in Córdoba, Argentina, on December 29, 1987, and grew up in a…

The fact that one of the most significant pop stars of the last ten years graduated from a mid-sized comprehensive school in a small Cheshire village is subtly intriguing. No prestigious arts school. No stage school with singing coaches and shiny hallways. Harry Styles attended Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School, where he sat in regular classrooms, most likely daydreamed through some lessons, and eventually made his way to a microphone through a school band instead of an official music program. For a boy growing up in the English Midlands, Harry Styles’ educational path was rather typical. He was born in 1994…

The fact that one of the most influential technologists alive, Larry Page, grew up in a home that, in his own words, resembled a controlled explosion at a university library is subtly telling. There are computers everywhere. Stacks of science magazines on surfaces. A mother who taught programming, and a father with a PhD in computer science. The actual education may have started long before any enrollment paperwork was completed. Page was born in 1973 in Lansing, Michigan, and from a young age, his surroundings were more of a low-key laboratory than a childhood home. His father brought home an…