A: A lot of super smart people I went to college with had a very good idea of what they wanted to do right away, started working towards it, and are still on that path 10 years later. (Most of my Early Entrance Program classmates are now in med school, grad school, etc.)
… but not me :)
Instead, it took a while for me to learn that it was okay to go off the beaten path, and that I should go chase whatever I’m passionate about. However, even in Seattle, there aren’t many role models who can teach you the right way to manage that process. I would ultimately receive a lot of help from two Bills – Bill Ericson and Bill Gossman – who did teach me a lot about this.
In short, I wish that I would have had a more “strategic” view of how college fit into my life, as a tool rathe than as a monolithic step that I had to get past to get anything done.
(That said, stay in school kids!)