dragonbook

5 Most of what I can tell you about adjusting to college (and about college success in general) you already know or can easily figure out for yourself. So I am going to shut up or quit writing? If you think that, you don't have the slightest idea what college professors are like. We make our livings telling students things they already know or can easily find out from themselves. So what is it that you know already, but that I’m going to tell you anyway? First of all, there are some things you really ought to avoid if you are to have any chance of real success in college. Number one: avoid drugs. I'm sure you know already how drugs can mess up your school career and your life, but let me give you one example from my own college days. I was sitting at dinner in the dorm dining hall one evening, talking with Kathy, the daughter of one of the professors. All of a sudden, Kathy catches site of a good-looking young man rushing into the dining hall. Kathy did kind of a double take, and then shouted out, "Steve! How are you? It's been ages... Where have you been?" Steve (not his real name) immediately came over to our table to join us. He turned out to be a very entertaining sort of person. Kathy (and that is her real name) told me later that he was one of the most brilliant students she had ever met at Stanford, the kind of guy who memorized "pi" to 150 places just for fun. Anyway, we were having a fascinating conversation--when all of a sudden two uniformed police officers came into the room. They looked around and came right up to Steve, grabbed hold of him, cuffed him, and hauled him off. You see, Steve had just escaped from a mental institution. He was apparently very dangerous, and the officers were quite relieved that they had apprehended him so quickly.