Blue Collar Brilliance Summary

Blue Collar Brilliance Summary

Blue Collar Brilliance told a story about how Mike Rose’ adolescent life showed him that you do not need college to be successful. He tells how he used to watch his mother learn from the other people, how to read their facial expressions, body language, and even tone of voice to asses their moods and needs. He tells the story of his uncle working his way up from a railroad worker to a General Motors supervisor. He uses the skills he learned from these important people in his life to make a life and a career for himself.

“ A waitress acquires knowledge and intuition about the ways and the rhythms of the restaurant business…. Rosie devised memory strategies so that she could remember who ordered what.” (Rose para. 5) People generally think that you need a high school and college education to develop these ways of thinking. Rosie did not complete high school and she was able to teach herself these incredible techniques to help her to be a better waitress. Most people would go through years of schooling to learn the same things to use in the Central Intelligence Agency. or something of that nature. Rosie worked hard and achieved success in a way that most people would not find fit. Rosie just wanted to help make a living for her family and be the best waitress she could be.

Rosies work tells us a lot about how some people are successful without college.

Does this mean that college is an unnecessary tool in today's society? Rose states “ I began to see formal education as a means of fulfillment and as a road toward making a living.” (Rose para.9) This means that instead of taking maybe what others would call a slightly harder road to a successful life like Roses’ mother, he decided to explore other options that a further education could better offer him. He enjoyed college and the experiences that came with it. He met people with backgrounds similar to his. He learned that there are several ways to successful

career.
Roses’ Uncle Joe might object that college is the only way to land a good office job. Roses’ mothers brother Joe, dropped out of school shortly after middle school to get a job to support his family. He started out working for the railroad, then joined the navy, then back to the railroad which was declining quickly. Joe joined his brother at General motors where he spent 33 years working his way up to be the supervisor for the paint and body department. Joe worked extremely hard to get to where he wanted to be, others take an easier route, by going to college.
In addressing the question of which is harder, getting higher education or choosing to forego higher learning, Rose has considered several explanations for which is the better road. Others may argue that one option is better than the other. People on both sides agree that a plausible explanation is to work hard and do the best you can and you will be successful. Rose choose to use both hard work and higher education to learn a lot about the world. He studies the way people in different professions, no matter the education level, work to achieve their goals.