How Jaden Smith and Willow Smith Feel About Attending College

Jaden Smith and Willow Smith both expressed their views on pursuing post-secondary education in the future. 

The children of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have often shared their non-traditional views on schooling. The brother and sister duo have credited their artistic efforts for teaching them lessons they wouldn’t learn in school. They’ve also encouraged their fans to shift their ways of thinking on education and learn for themselves.

While Jaden and Willow’s alternative school experiences shaped their formative years, fans might wonder how they feel about attending a college or university at some point in their lives. 

Jaden Smith and Willow Smith are both open to attending college

In August 2016, Jaden and Willow sat down for their first cover story with Interview Magazine. They chatted with Pharrell Williams and shared their take on several topics. Some of the issues included their dream collaborations, philosophers who inspire them, and education. Williams asked a then-18-year-old Jaden and a then 15-year-old Willow what their intentions were after high school.

When asked if they would like to attend college, Jaden said he was “100 percent” on board with pursuing a college degree someday. Although Willow would also like to go to college, she admitted she didn’t have an exact route in mind. 

“I wouldn’t say plans, but it’s a very strong possibility,” Willow said of going to college. “I’m a huge advocate of all sciences. And my favorite—actually, not my favorite because I love all sciences—but the primary science that I study all the time is physics. It’s the mother of all sciences because it’s just how things move and how things react to the world around them. I feel like I would definitely go to college for physics.”

Jaden Smith thought school wasn’t ‘authentic’

Although Jaden is open to going to college one day, he negatively reacted to traditional school and how it affects students. In a 2014 interview with T Magazine, Jaden joined Willow and discussed their feelings at school. Jaden and Willow were both home school students at the time, and Jaden said the traditional school makes students in his age group “so teenagery, so angsty.” Additionally, Jaden shared that the lessons taught in conventional schooling might not resonate with students in the real world. 

“Here’s the deal: School is not authentic because it ends,” Jaden said. “It’s not true; it’s not real. Our learning will never end. The school that we go to every single morning, we will continue to go to. Think about how many car accidents happen every day. Driver’s ed? What’s up? I still haven’t been to driver’s ed because if everybody I know has been in an accident, I can’t see how driver’s ed is really helping them out.” 

Willow Smith said physically attending school made her ‘depressed’ 

Like Jaden, Willow shared that she didn’t think traditional school was for her growing up. While most of her education was alongside her brother, Willow said she did try the orthodox route. Willow told after trying to attend physical school “for one year,” it wasn’t something the singer wanted to do. However, she said she didn’t have a miserable experience the entire time she was at her school. 

“It was the best experience but the worst experience,” she said. “The best experience because I was, like, ‘Oh, now I know why kids are so depressed.’ But it was the worst experience because I was depressed.”