Get­ting into the col­lege of your dreams is a great adven­ture. Once there, study­ing hard, apply­ing your tal­ents, and using the skills you have learned up to that time will be exactly what you should be doing. Then you will grad­u­ate, and start on a career path that will be much dif­fer­ent than the one your par­ents trav­eled. Your career will evolve as the world around you evolves through sci­ence, tech­nol­ogy, and the changes in cul­ture. You will need to evolve with it, and on the way you will become an expert. Just don’t be sur­prised if that exper­tise turns out to be in a dif­fer­ent area than when you started.

You may be an expert at some­thing right now. Maybe you are an inven­tor, an artist, a writer of short sto­ries. A great accom­plish­ment and strong cre­den­tial to add to your col­lege appli­ca­tion is “author.” If you’ve ever thought about writ­ing a book, write one as an expert and tell some­one how to do what you do Then self-publish. A new book by Amy Lorenti — writer, designer and dig­i­tal media mar­ket­ing expert — tells you how in A Writer’s Guide to Fame and For­tune — Get the respect you deserve, the work you want, and the money you’re worth. Check it out (avail­able at Amazon.com in paper­back and in Kin­dle books). Writ­ing a book as a sub­ject mat­ter expert may just be the boost your appli­ca­tion needs to get you into the col­lege of your dreams.