My Hereos... Roger Sherman...

At 19 years of age, his father passed away, and Roger became responsible for the family. He'd apprenticed as a shoemaker and helped with the family farm. He wasn't well educated like some of the other Founding Fathers, i.e., he didn't go to college, though he did receive an honorary degree from Yale, 11 years after being admitted to the bar, when he was their treasurer. He was a ferocious reader. According to a note in Lives of the Signers..., he propped up a book on his bench and read whenever he didn't need to keep a close eye on his work. He didn't own books; he borrowed them. Without a formal education in law, he was admitted to the bar. He worked throughout his life for the cause of independence.

I was raised to believe I could only be accomplished if I had a college diploma. I could only make money if I majored in engineering or math. I don't think math. Words make sense; numbers don't. I finally earned an AAS (two-year degree) as a teacher's aid, though it did me no good since I didn't know Spanish. Never mind that I knew Thai and understood the struggle of learning a second language. I also earned certificates of completion in a travel agency school, which I used, in ASL, which I used, and in transcribing, which I use. I didn't have the work ethic of Sherman, at first, but I've learned.