Where do you learn to do the stuff you do?

Wondering whether there's any value to a liberal arts education? I got mine at the College of William & Mary, in scenic Williamsburg, VA. My favorite quote from William & Mary is Thomas Jefferson, who said, "The greatest value of a liberal arts education is that it enables you to tell when a man is lying." What else did I take away from W&M? I learned how to use a sewing machine, how to draft a pattern, how to tie knots that slide when you want them to and other that don't, when you don't; how to rappell off a cliff without panicking; that it is possible to have three papers written by Monday morning when no papers have been started on Thursday night. And I started learning how to tell when people are lying to me, although that's a lesson I learned in much greater detail in less formal schools.

How about other options? If you're going to pay for a professional education, it's a good idea to pay for a name brand. I shopped the "blue light special" and got two graduate degrees for the price (in years and cash) of about 1 1/2, at the Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Law School.

About this time my mother started ending all her letters "write if you get work," so I quit getting educated, and started getting paid.