I think his advice is "good" in the sense of safe. If it is followed, it is very likely that the student ends up in a good place professionally. But, I think he

I think his advice is "good" in the sense of safe. If it is followed, it is very likely that the student ends up in a good place professionally. But, I think he ignores the fact that to become really good at something is not pure grit, but something has to feed your motivation. I'm just as sceptical about "passion" as Cal is, but at least one might need to discover some kind of drive towards achievement. For me it seems to be a particular kind of curiosity to "understand" something difficult, and use it to build stuff. It's not exactly passion, but still one needs the drive, not just a direction that when diligently pursued usually gives good results.