Rowan Atkinson graduated from Newcastle University in 1975 with a BSc in Electrical and Electric Engineering, proving he's not just incredibly talented and hilarious, but a genius as well. After graduating from Newcastle, Rowan impressively went on to complete his MSc at Oxford University, also in Electrical Engineering, graduating in 1978. So if you need some rewiring done in your student house, maybe Mr. Bean is the guy for the job.
However, since escaping the life of education, Rowan Atkinson has gone on to do very different, but no less incredible, things. He briefly attended the Queen's College, Oxford to study a PhD, following in his father's footsteps. But this didn't last long, and he dropped out to devote his life to acting. And, not going to lie, thank God he did.
Rowan Atkinson's acting career first took off in 1983 when he played a supporting role in James Bond: Never Say Never Again and a lead role in Dead on Time. But of course, what everyone knows and loves Rowan Atkinson for the most: his role as Mr. Bean. The show first aired on January 1st, 1990 and ended in 1995. There were only 14 episodes but perhaps that proves how well Rowan Atkinson made his mark because, 7 years since the original show ended, the people still want more.
The animated version of Mr. Bean first aired on January 5th 2002 and ended on June 2nd 2004, consisting of three seasons. Over a decade later, the show rebooted in 2015 for another three seasons until it concluded again in 2019.
The British public understandably can't get enough of Rowan Atkinson's legendary slapstick humour, and I feel very proud to be a student at the University he attended, even though I am a journalism student, and our courses have no correlation whatsoever. I think it's also a nice reminder that nobody has to go into a career related to their degree. For all you creatives that are feeling stuck in a STEM course - it's not over.