Hayley's education

[Stephany]

She hasn't "experienced" University so she can't fully regret it but on an academic level, I doubt it would have been interesting for someone like Hayley. It's a place where we learn a lot of theory - but most of it isn't useful in real life.

[Martin]

Hi Stephany
You are quite right and indeed based on my own experience I learnt a lot more outside the classroom than inside! I thoroughly enjoyed Uni but more the social side than the academic (unfortunately my results reflected this!).

I am a great believer in fate and I have no doubt that Hayley took the right decision and has benefited from the life experience viewpoint.

Best Wishes
Martin

[Dave]

stevemacdonald said:

... Let's not forget that there is a lot of money at stake in keeping her right where she is, singing, recording and touring.

Yes indeed... a lot of her own money is at stake... her livelihood in fact. And her potential earning power then... and today is, I'll wager, much greater than nearly all her peers who went on to University in New Zealand.

The social side of University education is overrated; it is important but it is, or should be, incidental to the the main objective: that of enabling students to earn a good living for themselves and to become full and productive members of society. Too many students forget this.

stevemacdonald said:

She made the decision to go this way long before she could consider it from an educated perpective.

It is abundantly clear that Hayley has had the advice and ongoing support of a well balanced, knowledgeable and caring family from the beginning. She was also ambitious and, I suspect, mature beyond her years at that time the major decisions (to leave NZ) had to be made. And the record company were willing to take a long term view, not a short-term "pump and dump" approach as seems to be all too common with young pop singers, for example.

Take all this together, and seeing where Hayley is now, five years on, it seems to me that Hayley and her parents made exactly the right choice and any other choice would have left them regretting it for the rest of their lives.

Having a daughter who is herself about Hayley's age, who is very much into music and who has been to University, I like to feel that I can see things from the perspective of Hayley's parents. In their situation, I am certain that I would have given the same advice and support as Hayley had and that my daughter would have made the same decision. Anything else would have been an utter folly.

And I very much doubt if it's now either adviseable or practicable for Hayley to try to "catch up on" what some people see as the University education she missed out on. Time and circumstances have, I suspect, moved on too far for that.

Dave

[socalboy]

This is an intriguing topic (thanks Steve). Hayley is certainly not the first young person to be swept up in early stardom and success, but she is one of the few I’ve encountered who truly seems to understand and appreciate her extraordinary circumstances. For this reason I think she will always be at peace with her station in life.

In a sense, I’m not sure Hayley really ever had much choice in the matter. Once her talent was recognized, she found herself on an adventure ride with no looking back. As Grant said, she is almost inevitably where she is today. We of course are the beneficiaries, but Hayley has mentioned on several occasions that she feels blessed to be able to give pleasure to others. No degree can confer such a blessing. But if she ever decides to go back to college, I trust she’ll do well in her music appreciation class.

[Belinda]

socalboy said:

In a sense, I’m not sure Hayley really ever had much choice in the matter. Once her talent was recognized, she found herself on an adventure ride with no looking back.

And its an adventure that hundreds of kids in Christchurch work for and never achieve,not because of lack of talent but lack of opportunities,
Very little comes their way in acting or singing chances.
Hayley is doing exactly what she thought would be just a dream.

Miss you Heaps but

Go Hayley GoBelinda

[kimmie]

I don't think Hayley's career puts a limit on her education. The only way that will happen is if she lets it. Sure, doing both will be hard, but look at how much Hayley has accomplished and all the stuff she's interested in outside of singing. She's the youngest ambassador for UNICEF, she wants to learn more about music therapy so she can help children with autism and other disabilities. I'm sure there's tons more stuff she's interested in and able to do and with her determination, I say the sky's the limit.

She's a smart person, and I'm sure if she decides to attend college somewhere, she'll do fine. Probably better than fine. And hey, there's always the option of taking college courses online. Either way, Hayley has already proven that when she wants to do something and really puts her heart into it, she'll succeed.

Anyway, that's just my opinion