http://www.oxfordamerican.org/articles/2011/aug/22/who-are-you-and-what-are-you-doing-here/

Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here?

A message in a bottle to the incoming class.

Welcome and congratulations: Getting to the first day of college is a major achievement. You’re to be commended, and not just you, but the parents, grandparents, uncles, and aunts who helped get you here.

It’s been said that raising a child effectively takes a village: Well, as you may have noticed, our American village is not in very good shape. We’ve got guns, drugs, two wars, fanatical religions, a slime-based popular culture, and some politicians who—a little restraint here—aren’t what they might be. To merely survive in this American village and to win a place in the ente