Gillespie Hurls Charges at Obama
Ohio GOP Candidate Defends Nazi Reenactments that Cantor Criticized
Perriello Says Hurt Avoids Tough Stances
Police Groups and Anti-Abortion Group Endorse Griffith
Ball Responds, Hillary in Mind
Marshall Backed Ron Paul for President
Stewart Asks Tea Party to Support Immigration Bill
Sierra Club Says Virginia Falling Behind on Renewable Energy
Group Promotes Wind Energy at Virginia Beach Event
Tuesday is Deadline for New Voters to Register
Virginia Spends Millions on College Dropouts
Tyson Commuters to “Bite the Traffic Bullet”
Bedford County to Discuss Walking Trail Construction
C’Ville Middle School Plan Could Cost $36 Million
I taught at a liberal arts college for many years, and the question of college drop-outs interests me. Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard and the rest, as they say, is history. I knew a student who dropped out because no friends of his from his high school or neighborhood ever considered college, and he came to agree with them, finding that the curriculum moved in a different orbit than the one he was comfortable with. I have known students whose emotional problems proved overwhelming, some of whom finished college years later, and others of whom never did. For this reason many colleges have had strong counselling departments for years. And then I have known people who finished college but who felt that their real education only began after it. “I never let my schooling interfere with my education,” as a humorist put it.