Shakira:This Colombian pop star can do more, much more, than shake her hips fetchingly. And to prove it, she went back to high school last summer to complete what she had left unfinished. The singer studied history of civilisation at the University of California, Los Angeles. Although she didn’t attend the last few classes, Shakira’s professor — who apparently had no clue about her stardom — seemed pretty impressed by her intelligence. It seems Shakira dyed her hair and put on a disguise to avoid being recognised. The 30-year-old described the experience as “healthy and refreshing”.

Keira Knightley: Scoring big with Bend it Like Beckham in 2002 at the age of just 17, this young British actress has recently decided to return to college once her career as a Hollywood star goes into decline. We are not sure when that will happen, with the Pirates of the Caribbean films cementing her place amongst the stars. But uncertain of how long fame will favour her, the 22-year-old wants to be equipped to move on, pick a new profession and study it. We’ll be watching!

Christian Slater:After two decades of making films, Christian Slater, the once-popular actor you’d remember from Broken Arrow, decided to go back to school to rediscover his passion for acting. Slater, who kicked off his career as a child artiste, was confused by all the early fame. He described his previous acting stint as an “observational period”. So, in order to get his career back on track, the teen heart throb of the 80s and 90s signed up for acting lessons.

Natalie Portman:Discovered when she was only 11 years old, the Star Wars star went back to school to study psychology at Harvard in 2000. The 26-year-old did not want to restrict herself and reportedly was eager to return to academics. She even stayed on campus, free from the pressure of paparazzi. “I feel I’m a positive role model by not putting my education on hold,” she had said at the time. She said she wanted to show girls her age that it wasn’t “dorky” to go back to school.

Michael Jordan:Determined to be more than just a great athlete, basketball star Michael Jordan went back to college mid-career. After bursting on to the NBA in 1984 at the age of 21, Jordan went back to the University of North Carolina in 1986 to earn his bachelors degree in geography.

Brian May:Rock star Brian May who founded Queen is now physicist Dr Brian May. After a gap of more than 30 years, the guitarist completed his PhD in astrophysics, no less! The 59-year-old who has hits like Fat Bottomed Girls and We Will Rock You to his credit, was co-authoring a science book for kids two years ago when his interest in the subject was revived. He dug up his old notes and resumed his abandoned thesis. After some 36 years, he completed his paper titled ‘Radial velocities in the zodiacal dust cloud’, which he had left unfinished after he dropped out of Imperial College, London, as Queen struck big time.

Ethan Hawke:Following his debut in the sci-fi flick Explorers — that bombed at the box office — Ethan stopped acting professionally and resolved to attend Carnegie Mellon University. But his college career didn’t last long after Ethan was chosen to play one of the young protagonists in Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society. After he finished filming, Ethan changed his mind (again) and decided that he didn’t want to be an actor after all, and this time went back to NYU for an English major. But given the film’s roaring success and the barrage of offers in interesting movies, Ethan realised he was throwing away something good. Given the state of his career, this might be the right time to go back to school!