My Pope Center colleague Jenna Robinson writes here about the choice students have as they enter college: four years (or more) of goofing around and doing as little work that could improve themselves as possible, or trying to maximize the possibilities for intellectual growth and enrichment.

It’s excellent advice, but I’m afraid it will mostly fall on deaf ears. Few of the disengaged students who have never known education that wasn’t built around the notion that it is supposed to be fun, ego-boosting stuff with rewards for everyone are going to have epiphanies. It is possible, though. Back in my own teaching days, I had a few students who admitted that they’d been pretty lazy throughout high school, but figured out in college that learning can be enjoyable and useful.