If there is anything certain about the experience of new college students, newly arrived at new schools, pursuing a new stage of life it is this: They will be confronting one vexing question, every day. This question will influence what they choose to study, and what they pursue outside the classroom. Their parents will ask this question constantly; advisors, friends and teachers will ask this question, even when they’re not asking it. It will be the one constant in their educational experience, the dominant concern. It will trump everything else. That question is:
