[Rick TYler]

Billfred and I are opposites. I have two college degrees, which I spent nine years on (with a couple of work breaks in between). The absolute best times I had in college were in "Introduction to" classes. I finished my undergraduate degree with the exact minimum number of classes in my major to get my degree. I spent the rest of my time having fun. I discovered that our School of Physical Sciences had a sequence of courses for non-majors. The instructors had the chance to teach something they loved, without the pressure of making majors happy. I took Observational Astronomy, Cosmology, Newtonian Physics, and Geophysics. I took a one-year course in psychobiology. I took six Humanities courses, including Logic and a history of the American presidency. I have four units in undergraduate Criminal Law. I took six quarters of Sailing. I lifted weights for a year. I was disc jockey at KUCI for three years, wrote for the New University newspaper for two years and was news editor for a year, was Director of the Model United Nations program, and completed a half-dozen independent study projects (for class credit).

The moral, and I do have one, is that college can be a tremendously broadening experience, and might be the last chance you have to hang out in an intellectual playground where all you have to do is learn. Don't waste it learning to be a drone. Trust me -- most of the classes you take won't help all that much after you graduate, and no one will care in 10 years if you got an "A" or "B+" in a course. Focus on your education, not school.

And don't be stupid.