Conservative indeed! I'd say more like radically pro-education and adamantly pro-carpe diem. In fact, this way of looking at the world kicked in for me when I (miraculously, given my non-existent high school education and unimpressive test scores) got into college, an event that I am still convinced was due to computer error.

I arrived at UCLA at 17 with a near-physical craving for knowledge, a week after freshman orientation (hey, Mom and Dad, how about a look at that calendar!) to find that many of the survey courses I was required to take were already full. So with a little help from a counselor and several trips to the computer-enrollement center, I managed to sign up for an eclectic group of courses, including ancient classics (upper level), studio art, and intro. to anthropology.