By Ben Snider-McGrath
Steve Jobs, LeBron James and Albert Einstein. These are just a few of the names that Connor Mills mentioned when discussing his decision – to drop out of school.
“Think about it,” said the former Ryerson fashion design student. “None of those guys graduated from a college or university, and look at them now. They’re all world-renowned for what they’ve done in their fields.”
Einstein did, in fact, graduate from university, but this did not seem to deter Mills.
“OK, sure, he graduated from university, but that was in, like, 1900,” Mills said. “All you had to do to graduate back then was not die of cholera. Not a huge accomplishment in my books.”
Mills said that he had a wonderful winter break and that the time off of school opened his eyes to all the other things he could be doing with his life.
“I listened to a lot of podcasts over the break,” he said. “Watched a lot of basketball, a lot of Netflix. I read a lot of magazines, too. Well, I looked at the pictures, but I read some of the articles. Anyway, I realized that I wasn’t living my life to the fullest at school, so when I was supposed to be enrolling in classes for the upcoming term, I dropped out instead.”
Mills does not have a plan for what he will do next, but he knows that it will be “a major life-altering event.”
“Take LeBron James,” Mills said. “He went straight to the NBA from high school and look at him now; like 10 straight NBA Finals appearances and seven championships. I don’t know the exact numbers, but he’s done a lot, I know that much. Imagine if I hadn’t spent three years messing around at school. Maybe I’d be in the NBA with LeBron.”
Mills played basketball throughout high school and continued when he came to Ryerson.
“No big deal, but my intramural team almost made it to the finals two years ago,” Mills said. “I’m honestly so mad at myself for not at least trying to make it to the NBA. I really think I would’ve made it if I hadn’t come to Ryerson.”
A few options that Mills is considering for the next step in his life include, but are not limited to, training to make a professional basketball team (“Maybe I’ll start in a European league and then make the jump to the NBA,” he said); becoming a best-selling author (“I’d like to write a Twilight-inspired series,” he added); and trying his hand at professional darts. “I’ve never played, but how hard can it be?”
Mills was last seen setting up an office in his parents’ garage, where he allegedly plans to start his own computer company.
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