After a year's sabbatical, I'm less than thrilled at the prospect of returning to the classroom. Don't get me wrong, I love teaching, but I could love teaching a little less.

Anyway, here's my (unsolicited) advice to all our incoming freshmen (the PC people on campus now insist on calling them "first-year students"):

There are 3 basic ways to spend your time during your college years:

My advice: Pick only two of the above.

Time is scarce--meaning we have only a limited amount of it. 24 hours in a day is all there is. You can only be a successful college student if you choose (1) from the list above. And you can do either (2) or (3) but not both. (I've seen very few students who have the ability to manage all three.)

If you want to do (2) and (3) but not (1), then you should drop out now and save yourself and your parents and/or the taxpayers the cost of college.