Oprah Winfrey, one of the most influential women in media, won an oratory contest which got her a “full-ride” at Tennessee State University, a historically black college, where she majored in communication.
Winfrey’s close and friends and family were certainly not surprised by her career choice. She once told an interviewer how her grandmother once said that ever since Winfrey could speak, she was “on stage”.
Danica McKellar Is a Math Whizz
Danica McKellar, also known as Winnie Cooper from the Wonder Years took a break from acting to study Mathematics at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where she graduated summa cum laude of her class.
McKellar went on to author several mathematic books, three of which have made The New York Times children's bestseller list. She is an education advocate who strives to make math more approachable to adolescents.
Brooke Shields Graduated From Princeton
Besides being an accomplished model, Brooke Sheilds is also apart of Princeton University's alumni. In 1983 she decided to go on a hiatus from her modeling career and dedicate four years to attend college and graduated with a Bachelors Degree in French Literature.
Her senior thesis was titled “The Initiation: From Innocence to Experience: The Pre-Adolescent/Adolescent Journey in the Films of Louis Malle, Pretty Baby, and Lacombe Lucien.” We're not exactly sure what that means, but we sure that Sheilds behind it, it's fascinating. Please tell us more!
Would You Want Gerard Butler to Be Your Lawer?
Before he became a Spartan, Butler obtained a law degree from the University of Glasgow. After graduation, he was a trainee lawyer at a big firm but because he was quite the party animal at the time, he would often miss work, and subsequently got fired just one week before he'd become a qualified lawyer. Butler already realized that being a lawyer wasn't his true passion, and although he wasn't is what direction he would take, he was sure of one thing, he wanted to be famous.
At the age of 25 at he made the decision to move to London to pursue a career in acting, and at 30 he moves to Los Angeles, and the rest is history.
Rashida Jones: Comparative Religion
Being the daughter of two entertainment industry moguls: Peggy Lipton and Quincy Jones, Rashida Jones had big shoes to fill. Luckily for her, she inherited her parents' talent and intellect, and she has made a name for herself in her own right.
Before she became a hit in Parks and Recreation and The Office, she graduated from Harvard with a degree in comparative religion. She was quite an active member of her university, as she was a member of the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club and also the musical director of an a cappella group called the Harvard Opportunes.