Snooki thinks that whale sperm is what makes the ocean salty. Ask any group of pre-teens, they may not know what makes the ocean salty, but they definitely know who Snooki is. Often, it seems that celebrities become popular for their least intelligent moments. While celebrity brain-slips are sometimes endearing (think Jessica Simpson’s “chicken or fish” debacle of 2003), it doesn't encourage the celebration of intellect and working hard to achieve a goal. We want to show our children real accomplishment takes a little bit more time than “the best smoky eye-like ever".
Instead of allowing our children to watch as Teen Mom star Farrah Abraham tries to define feminism (“like, lesbians or something”) or learn geography from Britney Spears (“I get to go to overseas places, like Canada”), let’s instead encourage them to look up to one of these seven celebs who appreciated the value of a quality education enough to pursue one at an Ivy League college or university:
- Meryl Streep, Yale ‘92
Meryl Streep is regarded by the IMDB as the greatest living actress (their words), and by others as the biggest bad-ass onscreen (my words.) Streep's career officially launched in 1975, and since then she has received 19 Academy Award nominations and 3 Academy Awards for her roles as "hotties" like Madeline Ashton in Death Becomes Her, nurturers like Aunt Josephine in A Series of Unfortunate Events, true renegades like Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada and Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. While juggling a truly successful acting career and a personal life, Streep decided to make her education a priority. It's no wonder that she was able to make juggling three men in the 2008 hit Mama Mia! look so easy.
2. Jodie Foster, Yale '85
You probably know her best as Clarice from The Silence of the Lambs. Foster earned four Academy Award nominations and two Oscar wins, but more impressively, she graduated magna cum laude from Yale in 1985.
3. Brooke Shields, Princeton '87
Brook Shields is a force to be reckoned with on and off the big screen. An actress since age 12, Shields is known best for her show Suddenly Susan, which won her a People's Choice Award in 1997. The former Calvin Klein jeans girl graduated with honors from Princeton in 1987. Shields has also been a prevalent figure in opening conversations regarding topics like girls in education (the SMART girl campaign) and mental health.
4. Julie Bowen, Brown '91
Unlike many of the celebrities featured here, Julie Bowen graduated from Brown University before she began her career as an actress. After receiving her B.A. in Renaissance studies, Bowen starred in a very successful string of productions including Happy Gilmore, ER, Ed, and Boston Legal. Bowen currently stars as Claire Dunphy in the quirky comedy Modern Family. She says of her degree, "having a college education sets me apart from actors whose lives have focused only on acting." I could not agree more.
5. John Krasinski, Brown '01
John Krasinski won the hearts of middle class American women as Jim Halpert in The Office- I have literally seen grown women cry over a Pam and Jim love montage- but few know that tv's cubicle cutie had no intentions of becoming a career actor before his time at Brown University. The English major dappled in acting in college and graduated as a play write. He still goes back to his Alma Mater to speak of the impact that his college career had on his life.
6. Natalie Portman, Harvard '03
Natalie Portman truly is the whole package. Discovered at age 11 in a local pizza shop, Portman was originally recruited to be a model. However, her natural grace and intelligence made her an ideal candidate to play roles that required physical and emotional maturity that far surpassed her age. Portman graduated from Harvard with a degree in Psychology in 2003. In 2015, the Star Wars actress came back to deliver the comencement address. In her speech, she adressed the imposter phenomenon, adding that she often felt as though she was "not smart enough to be in [Harvard]." Her former professors, however, describe her as a diligent and intelligent student.
7. Emma Watson, Brown '14
Everyone's favorite witch is not just the "smart one" in the Harry Potter films. Emma Watson graduated from Brown in 2014, and the British actress has not stepped fully back into acting since. The Perks of Being a Wallflower star is known for "bringing men into feminism" by stressing that the movement is for equality, not a different kind of inequality. With beauty, talent, and poise, the highest grossing actress of the decade's Brown education makes her nothing short of magical.
Education is rarely mentioned in the media, which is a testament to how we view education in America. Our schools are free-falling and falling farther behind everyday, but there is no real action being taken because it's not as glamours of a topic as "Chicken fish of the Sea". We live in a country that giggles as a man whom we elected to the presidency -twice- makes the public statement that, “rarely is the question asked is our children learning.” Although George W. couldn’t quite articulate his thought, maybe he has a point. Are we paying enough attention to the media and the celebrities that we expose our children to? What “is” they learning? We need to start making education a priority and a way to start is through the media.
