Note: This is the final post in my Fellow Travelers series. It seemed appropriate to visit a few fellow travelers from my own neighborhood.<\/p>\n
\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0<\/p>\n
As I was going through some articles I had clipped, one in particular caught my eye because at first glance I wasn\u2019t entirely sure why I\u2019d kept it. It was an article titled \u201cDreaming Big\u201d from my hometown paper, the Las Vegas Review Journal<\/em>.<\/p>\n The article was a roundup of ten people chosen by the newspaper\u2019s editors and entertainment writers as the movers, shakers, and visionaries who are making an impact upon entertainment as we know it. The article included a photograph of each person along with a short bio.<\/p>\n As I looked through the list, I saw exactly why I\u2019d saved it. There was Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte, of course, whose educational credentials list \u201cno formal education beyond high school.\u201d But that\u2019s now what originally got my attention. Here\u2019s what caught my eye:<\/p>\n Steve Wynn<\/strong>, Casino developer\u2014Education: Bachelor of arts degree in English literature<\/p>\n Robert Reynolds<\/strong>, Band Manager of the Killers\u2014Education: Bachelor of arts degree in English<\/p>\n Glenn Schaeffer<\/strong>, CEO of Fountainbleu Resorts\u2014Education: Bachelor\u2019s and Master\u2019s degrees in literature and Master of Fine Arts degree in fiction from the Iowa Writers\u2019 Workshop<\/p>\n But there\u2019s more about Schaeffer that is unique. According to the article, \u201cA longtime casino executive, Schaeffer used his money and his literature background to make Las Vegas an important fixture in the literary world. In 2000, he was the force behind establishing Las Vegas as the first US City of Asylum, a project that gives oppressed writers a place to live and work after fleeing their homelands.\u201d<\/p>\n Go English majors!<\/p>\n I\u2019m pretty sure that nobody at the University of Pennsylvania told Steve Wynn that his degree in English literature would be the ideal path to revolutionizing the hotel industry in Las Vegas. Nevertheless, Wynn\u2019s fascination with art, literature and entertainment all played a role in his bringing a new aesthetic and class to his entrepreneurial activity.<\/p>\n That, of course, is what the creative revolutionary does: makes connections and finds inspiration in disparate things. Out of that unique experience and insight, something new is born.<\/p>\n What these bold dreamers also show us is that our formal education doesn\u2019t have to limit us, but can add another dimension to far flung activities. Take an inventory of your own past training and experience and see what you\u2019ve learned and mastered that can be put to work in new and innovative ways. You may surprise yourself as you discover that you\u2019ve been gathering all kinds of tools and insights that would astonish your guidance counselors who forgot to tell you that the joyfully jobless life was the perfect option for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Note: This is the final post in my Fellow Travelers series. It seemed appropriate to visit a few fellow travelers from my own neighborhood. \u00b0\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0 As I was going through some articles I had clipped, one in particular caught my eye because at first glance I wasn\u2019t entirely sure why I\u2019d kept it. It was…<\/p>\n