college is not for everyone

I think one of the great messages in the film for younger generations is that you shouldn't expect to find your life's calling at school. The irony is that people like Mike usually excel in their classes and people like sully tend to drop out since they don't like taking direction. A big theme in the film was being "yourself"- sometimes we are comfortable with ourselves it's just that we haven't found a place in the world yet and that makes us worried and depressed.

I like how Mike and Sully worked their way up from the bottom into their dream careers. I thought this was a realistic, healthy take on life goals (Mike said "he had no plans" for the first time in his life) and a good example for children instead of the usual idealist "get A's on all your tests and everything will turn out great" crap we are fed constantly.

School is not some exclusive club where your dreams come true. It is where you pay for an education. If there are some things you want to study, or some skills you want to acquire, that is excellent. But remember that not everything is learnt nor taught at schools.