I don’t have a college degree. And, I’ve achieved quite a bit of success without one. Besides my attitude, I believe (with reasonable confidence) that a Jesuit education gave me key tools.

I am not especially religious. I’ve given some critique on the Catholic church in a previous post. However, there are elements of the education that make it valuable. And, transferable.

Jesuits practice what’s called Spiritual Exercises, based on Ignatian spirituality. The first principles of these exercises are secularized below:

1. We are created for something bigger than ourselves.

2. We have everything we need within us to make that something bigger than ourselves.

3. With what we have, we must do all we can for what we are made to do. We must rid ourselves of that which does not help us achieve that end.

4. Ultimately, the only thing that matters is what helps us serve others.

Compliment the first principles with the Ratio Studiorum — the Jesuit guide for education. The Ratio prioritizes philosophy, logic, rhetoric — very Aristotle — and later science, mathematics, and other subjects that help the student engage with the world as it is not as it is hoped to be — very Machiavellian.

And in this way, I believe this is why the education is so potent. To see and know yourself as an agent of great change, to see the world as it is and not as you hoped it would be, and to have the intellectual capacity to engage in that world and make your impact.

To distill it down even more: develop your mind, develop your eyes, become fearless, and take chances. Wash, rinse, and repeat.