I tried posting this three times yesterday and now, it finally shows up. I apologize in advance if multiple copies show up. With any luck the intelligence running this board will not post all three attempts, but who knows.

Wonderful essay. I'm passing it along to friends whose children are heading off soon!

This is so important and something that didn't sink in for many years.

And they build social capital, realizing that above all else, they’re in college “to widen the circle of human beings who know you and care about you,” he said. That’s perfectly put.

Lovely essay. I wish I had read it before attending college.

My brother and I were just talking about how, in college, no one can tell you anything. Even if you could time travel back and tell your younger self "working in teams IS part of your education, so is letting your profs work with you, seeking out and using the vast variety of campus services etc" But "youth is wasted on the wrong people." Those who would benefit from the advice, don't need it because they are likely already doing it.

The biggest mistake I made in college was not networking soon enough for my career outside of college, getting those "real life" experiences under my belt, and cultivating mentors. But I did some of it, and I eventually caught on how to do it. But got very little good advice from college counselors or teachers on that part. Maybe it was the times, or maybe it was because I was a little fish at a big university.

It amazes me how happenstance the events were that shaped my life, and I only wonder how much more I could have done had I gotten on the clue bus earlier. For example, I took a study abroad science course after my sophomore year, for the sole purpose of fun and social goals, it was a required course for non-majors so I thought studying in the Canadian Rockies would be a fun way to get that over with. Little did I realize I would fall in love with field ecology and totally change my major and my life goals as a result.

Then, a year later, I got dragged to an early job fair by my ambitious roomate and she coerced me into signing up for a summer job interview "just for the experience." It was March and I wasn't even thinking about a summer job and did not consider myself much qualified for anything. Little did I realize that many employers at college job fairs are just looking for someone lucid, animated and smart enough to be trainable. Having gone to a few job fairs later as one of those employers, you'd be surprised at how few students meet even those criteria! I got the job, and they sent me to a weekend long training seminar before the job started, where I met some of the top people in my field! Those connections were invaluable and fueled me to much further success for years after. And in neither of those examples, was I even consciously trying to do anything other than have fun and hang out with my friends. Luckily I had cultivated some adventurous and ambitious friends!

Frank Bruni is terrific. I read "Born Round" recently and loved it. I.saw this essay and didn't read it then, but I will now. Thanks.

Great article! Thanks.