The Subject That Made Colonel Sanders Drop Out Of School

Colonel Sanders, the founder of KFC, made quite a splash when he decided to enter the fried chicken business. According to a piece by Entrepreneur, the Colonel wasn't always sure what he was supposed to do, and tried several options including law, insurance sales, and more. He only found success when he switched to his own business; Sanders achieved fame in his lifetime as the founder of KFC, of course, but that wasn't an easy or straightforward route. 

Sanders had to confront plenty of obstacles in his career but he was highly passionate about his brand. For example, as per History, Sanders started his journey in the world of fast food after setting up shop at a gas station and offering freshly cooked meals to travelers. A short while later, he was motivated to start a cafe of his own after he received overwhelmingly positive reviews from customers. Sanders also came up with his fried chicken recipe in 1939, dazzling customers with his signature dish that included special chicken mixed with 11 herbs and spices.

While Sanders became rather successful later in life, his childhood was far from easy. He was forced to move as a child after his step-dad objected to his presence in the house. The resilient Sanders took things into his stride and started focusing on his gig at a farm, earning enough money to get by. However, the 12-year-old Sanders was trying to focus on his education at the same time, but life was hard and he decided to quit school in the seventh grade.

The founder of KFC spoke about his decision later. Sanders said that he simply didn't enjoy studying algebra and couldn't wrap his head around it. "Well, I couldn't conceive any part of it," he confessed. "The only thing I got out of it was that x equaled the unknown quantity. And I thought, 'Oh, Lord, if we got to wrestle with this, I'll just leave — I don't care about the unknown quantity.'" That's a relatable one, huh?