Why we do what we do

Have just discovered the wonder that is Kindle Singles, thanks to my friend Sharon N. I've been a fan of Plum Sykes since I read her articles in Vogue (whose fall fashion edition is always the weight of a small toddler). So I'm tearing through her essay entitled, 'Oxford Girl' I think it's an essay - on the Kindle it's sometimes hard to tell.

Besides letting us into the secrets of the posh but not actually monied, Sykes describes the reasons she was so determined to attend Oxford - none of which really had much to do with academics.

I could relate. When it came time for college, I applied all over the great state of Illinois, and in fact had been accepted to the occupational therapy program at the Chicago campus of U of I. And then I spent the day at Northwestern in Evanston. The sun was shining off the lake and the buildings were covered with ivy and students were zipping across campus on their bikes. A really cute guy smiled at me as he hurried into University Hall - which was this funky white building from the 1800's with a clock tower that I loved (so much that I killed Professor Olensky there in book one). There was the amazing Deering Library that looked like something out of Hogwarts (not that I knew that then since it was the pre HP days). Plus everyone looked smart. In short - it looked suspiciously like the movie version of college. Just like that, I was an English major at NU. A choice I made for all the wrong reasons that ended up changing my life for all the right reasons.

So what choices have you made for goofy reasons? Anyone want to fess up?