The Little Brown Reader

No, really. Why'd you come to college?

Because you want to make big money after you graduate? Because a college degree is your ticket to credibility in the business world? Because high school was over and there was nowhere else to party?

When I pictured college as a kid, I thought of rosy-cheeked girls and guys in turtle necks with stylish reading glasses, drinking cappuccinos at 2 a.m. in some Internet cafe, arguing about politics.

Call me crazy, call me dorky, but I also pictured shelving some of my old ideas for better ones and learning a bit about the world beyond Eufaula, beyond Alabama and beyond the South.

That was the plan.

I got to Auburn, made my way down the Concourse to the painted windows of Foy Student Union cafeteria, and started jotting down free-of-charge lectures.

Noted activists, former criminals, sexperts, all showing up for some campus organization or another.

Besides partying, dating and meeting new people, campus is the perfect place to broaden your horizons. Or so I thought.

The first time I went to hear a guest lecturer, I asked the girl beside me why the crowd was so small and mostly silent.

"We're here for extra credit," she whispered.

So that's the trick. It seems the only way to get college students into an auditorium for a philosophy forum, a historical lecture or even a gubernatorial debate is the promise of a few extra test points.