[CornFed]

Yvonne, you sound so down; I sincerely hope you are OK.

I voted for "fiction".  Stanford is a great place to go and you can get a great education if you are so inclined. It is not, however, some magic golden ticket that guarantees 40 years of career and life bliss. Too many variables, only some of which are under your control.  Nothing beats good fortune and the willingness and ability to take advantage of it.  It is too easy to say "well, just make some of your own". There is only so much you can do.

I certainly didn't mean to imply, nor did I get the impression that others did, that the 40-year decision involved any assurance of relief from life's turmoils.  My comments reflected my sense of what my life might have been like if I'd gone to another school.  And that isn't to imply that going to another school would have led to a bad existence.  I am simply grateful for what I perceive to be an internal lift of personal enhancement that I believe is incremental to that I would have had from any other choice I might have made.  Over 40 years there is quite a compounding effect.

[CornFed]

Yvonne, you sound so down; I sincerely hope you are OK.

I voted for "fiction".  Stanford is a great place to go and you can get a great education if you are so inclined. It is not, however, some magic golden ticket that guarantees 40 years of career and life bliss. Too many variables, only some of which are under your control.  Nothing beats good fortune and the willingness and ability to take advantage of it.  It is too easy to say "well, just make some of your own". There is only so much you can do.

I certainly didn't mean to imply, nor did I get the impression that others did, that the 40-year decision involved any assurance of relief from life's turmoils.  My comments reflected my sense of what my life might have been like if I'd gone to another school.  And that isn't to imply that going to another school would have led to a bad existence.  I am simply grateful for what I perceive to be an internal lift of personal enhancement that I believe is incremental to that I would have had from any other choice I might have made.  Over 40 years there is quite a compounding effect.