Another thing they fail to tell you is that there isn't necessarily a tradeoff between success and fun. When I started college, the idea of majoring and working

Another thing they fail to tell you is that there isn't necessarily a tradeoff between success and fun. When I started college, the idea of majoring and working in "engineering" appalled me -- grind away my youth in a cubicle, then retire just as family obligations and gradually declining health take the fun out of travel? No, thanks. So I took a B.S. in math (rebellious, no?), and the two jobs I've had since then have been as a lone software developer and pseudo-engineer for companies with things to do overseas. Not that I knew it would turn out this way, but I like the result -- occasional several-week trips to places I wouldn't have thought to visit, on an expense account, and thrown in with a group of locals who I already have some connection with. From what I gather, it's easy for engineers to spend a career like this if they want to. School advisors tell you to make yourself valuable, but they emphasize it with a stick -- if you don't, you'll be poor -- instead of a carrot -- you can cash in on your own value anytime. As PG mentioned in one of his essays, success is easier to tap if you stay upwind of it. (Incidentally, I'm going back to grad school soon -- being a pseudo-engineer isn't as upwind as I'd like. That's one get-out-of-a-rut-free card with pretty low risk.)