IF you are currently poor and you want to get rich, then study. Do not just stop at high school. There are lots of options to be had. You can enroll at a traditional college or you can enroll in a community college. Every scheme has its own advantages and what will work for you can only be determined by yourself. This is because only you know the factors involved. For example, the advantage of a community college is that you can immediately get a job after graduation because community colleges maintain a network with the human resources departments of companies in their area.

But the hang of it is that community colleges only offer associate degrees which are taken for a maximum of two academic years. Yet the advantage of it after graduation is that you can immediately get enrolled in a regular college without undergoing the hassle of taking the entrance exam. You will also only have two academic years to study. Another alternative is to study in an online school. The advantages of this are enormous. First, you can enroll in an online college even if it is based in the United States and you are currently located in Spain. Even if you cannot speak English that well, there are online colleges which offer programs leading to a bachelor’s degree and the medium used is Spanish. Another advantage is you get quality education over the average college in your area. Still another advantage is the tuition is minimal because there are no laboratory fees to cover. And then you don’t spend for transportation to the school and back, for boarding expenses as well as your meal expenses. And you can log in anytime to retrieve the lessons and don’t get pressured in getting late at a classroom style setting.

Once you have achieved a bachelor’s degree, you don’t just sit on your laurels. You have to study more. You must enroll again for a master’s degree and another one for a doctorate. There are even people I know who are not contented to achieve in one field alone. There’s one physician I know who entered West Point after becoming a physician. After graduating from West Point, he was immediately assigned to the United States Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). While working there, he enrolled in law online. And so, he is now a physician, a soldier and a lawyer with the rank of full-fledged colonel. He is poised to take the directorship of USAMRIID after the current one is retiring. And he is only 37 years old. That is one of the examples of success based on a lifetime of learning.

There is another person that I know who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in international relations at Georgetown. After being hired by the State Department, he continued his studies online and achieved a doctorate in international relations. Now, he is an assistant secretary of state at Foggy Bottom also at the age of 37.