But let’s save the total dream-crushing for another day and examine some of the elements that determine whether or not a city is ideal for a young professional. Factors like the unemployment rate, proliferation of Fortune 500 companies, population vs. job openings, cost of living, and cultural activity dictate the quality of life for a post-grad eager to gunsling their way up the corporate ladder.

Here are this year’s best cities for those young up-and-comers.

Austin, TX

With an unemployment rate sitting nearly three points below the national average at 4.9%, and a plethora of educational institutions, Austin is an extremely educated and well employed city. The cost of living is a little higher than the national average, but the festivals, breweries, concerts, and abundance of cultural events make Austin a young professional’s dream city.

Kansas City, MO

Home to The Kauffman Foundation, the largest organization dedicated to entrepreneurship in the world, Kansas City is a place where new ideas can become profitable realities. Unemployment and cost of living are both below the national average, and twenty somethings will have plenty to do in the trendy, gentrified Westport neighborhood. Close proximity to one of the best breweries in the Midwest—Boulevard Brewing Company—doesn’t hurt either.

Atlanta, GA

Atlanta is home to 10 Fortune 500 companies and dozens of universities, has an average starting salary of $43,000, and the cost of living is five points below the national average. The unemployment rate is a tad higher than average, but with the largest confluence of 18-34-year-olds in the U.S., young professionals will have plenty of networking to do. Young people will love the trendy Midtown neighborhood, and Der Biergarten, widely recognized as the best beer garden in America.

Boston, MA

For those looking for bright lights in the big city, Boston is the place to be. Jobs for young professionals are popping up all over Bean Town, and the city is buzzing with new office and apartment construction. Yes, the cost of living is high, but you won’t need a vehicle to get around the city. Home to dozens of colleges, perennially successful professional sports teams, craft breweries and unique eateries, Boston has all the trappings of a perfect young professional town.

Des Moines, IA

Never heard of Des Moines? Well, listen up. People get hired and paid well in this Iowa city. The unemployment rate and cost of living are well below the national average, and the median household income is a healthy $58,000. Also, it’s a college town so it has a certain air of excitement, and many cultural events, museums, and art galleries have recently found a home in Des Moines.

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intern

verb

1. confine (someone) as a prisoner, esp. for political or military reasons.

2. serve as an intern.

The internship is an inevitable fate for bright young professionals, and while I’m sure there are some rewarding and downright fun internships out there, most ex-interns would circle definition one as the most accurate description of the word (especially since most are unpaid). A descendant of the apprenticeship, the internship rose to prominence in the 1980s when business schools began using them as a training tool. Thirty years later, the word intern conjures images of latte runs, mail carts, and poorly executed Windsor knots. But there’s so much more to an internship than that.

Those brave interns who tirelessly churn the gerbil wheel that is the internship position are often debased and humiliated in pursuit of professional glory. Some are forced to wear elaborate costumes, others must canvass the streets for petition signatures, and the lucky few get to witness an office fistfight.

With the spring semester now complete, a cadre of fine young collegians are descending upon office buildings everywhere, eager to gain professional experience and no money whatsoever. As an homage to these lemmings, we’ve collected horror stories from now-thriving professionals who triumphed over intern adversity. Let their recounts give you hope, and remember: a latte is the one with steamed milk, a cappuccino is the one with all the foam.

Breanne Fultz – Horrible Bosses

Breanne Fultz was on the top of the world when she secured a paid internship in a social media position. The unfortunate thing is that she never got paid and the only position she was in was unemployed. After quitting her full time job, she showed up for her first day of work only to learn the position had been put on hold. “It turned out the two owners had vastly different ideas on how to proceed with their business and had had a giant fight the night before,” said Breanne. She never heard back from the horrible bosses and spent three months struggling to find a job. She is now a Social Media Coordinator for a spa in Canada.

Terri Huggins – Going Postal

As a college senior, Terri Huggins received a coveted internship at a national publication she preferred not to mention. One of her many responsibilities as an editorial intern in the features department was the mailing of various packages. When one of the packages she sent did not find its way to the intended recipient, her boss went postal. “My supervisor had the audacity to insult my intelligence in public by implying that I did not know how to mail a letter,” said Terry. To make matters worse, she was never reimbursed for the money she spent on cab and subway fare during work-related errands. Terri is now a thriving freelance writer at TerrificWords.com.

Justin Lee – Networking

Justin Lee had a guy’s dream gig when he landed a summer internship with the NFL’s Houston Texans back in 2003. His daily responsibilities were relatively painless and the job seemed like a touchdown for a while. That all changed when the dude who played the team mascot double-booked his services and guilt-tripped Justin into subbing for him at a youth center event. Drenched in sweat and being mauled by rambunctious 12-year-olds, Justin was beginning to regret his decision. “The added bonus was when several fathers at the event barged into the bathroom as I was changing so they could hand me their business cards with hopes that I would refer Texans players to their home building company or stereo shop,” said Justin. Though the experience was more like a missed field goal than a touchdown, Justin went on to co-found the popular office, retail, and industrial real estate website, TheSquareFoot.com.

Mark Hughes – It’s All Who You Know

Mark’s story is a little different as his is from a boss’s perspective. When he was an electronics engineering instructor for a university, one of his interns landed a haymaker on another intern after a verbal disagreement. “Both of the interns’ parents worked for a Fortune 500 company so no charges were filed,” said Mark. Some interns receive positions based on the status of their parents, and people tend to not thrive in a situation when they haven’t earned it. Let’s hope the tough guy interns put all that testosterone to good use with an MMA or WWE job; though their dad’s probably just got them a well-earned position at a Fortune 500 company.

Victoria Garment – Worst Places to Work

As a college senior in May 2009, Victoria Garment thought she had a great opportunity when she advanced to a second interview with the consumer and political watchdog organization U.S. PIRG. Upon arriving to the interview and noticing the 30 other candidates, it “…turned into a day long, grueling experience that involved having us immediately go out and canvas on a busy Boston street corner to try to get signatures for a recycling position,” said Vicky. She was offered the internship, but wisdom tooth surgery forced her to arrive a couple days late to the two-week training camp in Portland, Maine. Leery, and never having a chance to drop her bags at the hotel, Vicky quickly found herself drumming up signatures on a street corner again. “You were ignored, cursed at, shoved aside—you name it,” said Vicky. The job required 12 hour days canvassing in the hot sun, and she had to share a two-bedroom hotel room with four other girls. “The irony of all this is that U.S. PIRG advocates for better working environments… I found it outrageous that they would treat their employees in such a way.” Like most interns, Vicky stuck it out and paid her dues, and now works as the Contributed Content Editor at a company called Software Advice.

Deborah Schwarz Hirschhorn, Ph. D. – Freedom of Speech

Dr. Deb Hirschhorn was pursuing her master’s in psychology when she got an internship at a hospital’s psychiatric ward. She was mortified when she had to assist with ECT, or electroshock therapy, not only because it’s a possibly damaging and torturous medical practice, but because her focus was on behavior modification through counseling. “I never felt right about medical interventions,” said Dr. Deb. “I was especially annoyed when we had to attend a seminar in which depression was called a ‘disease.’” At lunch in the cafeteria the next day, she unknowingly sat next to various department heads at the hospital and “naively” voiced her disdain for the hospital’s practices. Said Dr. Deb, “Why was I not surprised when I was fired the next day?”. Despite the early setback, Deborah has had a long and distinguished career as a marriage and family therapist, and has her own popular medical website at Dr.Deb.com.

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We’ve rounded up the commencement speeches given by actors, actresses, and even tech giants that left us inspired, humbled, and in stitches.

In 2006, Stephen Colbert gave the commencement speech at Knox College, a private liberal arts school in Galesburg, IL. His opening remarks played on his thinly veiled real life/television persona. “I play someone on television named Stephen Colbert. He looks like me and talks like me, but with a straight face, says things he doesn’t mean. I’m not sure which one of us you invited here today.”

It didn’t take long to figure out which Stephen Colbert showed up. In his trademark farcical, news anchor style, he was light on the wisdom and heavy on “truthiness.” He somehow pulled off a law student/beer pong/Dred Scott joke, and claimed to have attended Knox College. “It doesn’t get reported much, partly because the press doesn’t do proper research, and partly because it’s not true,” he said.

It only took him 18 minutes, but he finally squeezed in some genuine remarks. He talked about his experience with improvisational comedy troupes, and how the spontaneity imitated life. “You’re about to start the greatest improv of all. You’ll have no script, no idea…and you are not in control. So say yes, and if you are lucky, people will say yes back,” he said. “Saying yes begins things, saying yes is how things grow. Yes is for young people, and that’s the word.”

Ellen Degeneres, comedienne and native of New Orleans, delivered the commencement speech at Tulane University in 2009. After thanking the honored faculty and creepy Spanish teacher, Ellen said she had to look up the word “commencement” after she agreed to do the speech. “I didn’t go to college at all, and I’m not saying you wasted your time and money,” she quipped, “But look at me: I’m a huge celebrity.”

She talked about the perception of success and the circumstances that hinder its development. Ellen was poignant and hilarious as she talked about her struggles with motivation, accepting death, and fear of coming out. “Your definition of success will change as you get older,” said Ellen. “For many of you today, your idea of success is being able to hold down 20 shots of tequila.”

In true Ellen fashion, she concluded her speech by running out into the audience and staging a massive dance party.

Actor Tom Hanks was the keynote speaker at Yale‘s Class Day in 2011. Illustrating his knowledge of young people’s desire to share every moment of their lives on social media, he began by encouraging all in attendance to leave their smart phones powered on. Employing the classic Hanksian wit that has charmed people for decades, he warned the graduates, “The jig is up, and the clock has run out. You are now the anointed.”

His speech was part State of the Union and part wedding toast, as he waxed about climate change, unemployment, and deadpanned: “There is a big brother, but he’s not a malevolent fiction. He’s actually all of us and he lives in our search engines.”

Reminding the students that they will now define the true nature of American identity, he told them their full time job was to “stand on the fulcrum between fear and faith. Fear at your back, faith in front of you.” He asked which way they would lean. Hanks encouraged them to move forward, “and tweet out a picture of the results.”

At 32 years of age, actor and comedian Andy Samberg might have been the youngest commencement speaker in Harvard‘s history when he spoke at Class Day in 2012. He referred to himself as “the fake-rap wiener song guy,” and said, “I’m as honored to be here as I am unqualified.”

His speech was light on wisdom but full of hilarious critiques on college life. He thanked the uninvited uncles and the “handsome janitors that are secretly math geniuses” for attending, and lamented his own decision to speak when he learned he wouldn’t be receiving an honorary degree.

Samberg declared all majors ending in “studies” useless, congratulated math and science majors for “finally” being cool, and brought up the embarrassing fact that the C. Thomas Howell in blackface film, Soul Man, was set at Harvard. After throwing in his impressions of Mark Zuckerberg, Mark Wahlberg, and Nic Cage, he reminded everyone to put their “dick in a box.”

His only real piece of advice was, “Once you graduate, you can never wear your Harvard sweatshirt in public without looking like a word class asshole.”

Successful film and television writer Aaron Sorkin gave the commencement speech at Syracuse University in the spring of 2012. As a Syracuse alum, his familiarity of the school’s culture provided a sentimental motif to the proceedings. He dictated simple proverbs, joked about parents listening to “Cat’s in the Cradle” on the way to the ceremony, and called the graduates “a group of incredibly educated dumb people.” His speech was all about the peaks and pitfalls that come on the path to professional fulfillment in post-grad life.

“There are some screw ups heading your way,” said Sorkin. “It’s a combination of life being unpredictable and you being super dumb.” The witty and honest writer spoke of the inevitable failures to come, and gave some advice on how to overcome disappointment. He  mentioned that he was addicted to cocaine for 10 years because he feared he couldn’t write without it. He then revealed the vast body of work he’d produced since getting clean.

“Develop your own compass and trust it. Decisions are made by those who show up,” he said. “My friends, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

The tall, pompadoured, ginger talk show host Conan O’Brien took to the campus of Dartmouth in 2011 to speak to the graduates. O’Brien was no stranger to Ivy League schools, he himself being a Harvard alumnus, so the quick witted comedian had a unique take on the graduates’ future. He was biting and inoffensive in a way only Conan can pull off, deadpanning, “With your college diploma, you now have a crushing advantage over 8% of the workforce,” and, “Dartmouth has graduated more fictitious Americans than any other college.”

It wasn’t all wisecracks though. Conan opened up about his well-publicized dismissal from NBC and his subsequent year of unemployment. He said it was the most satisfying professional year of his life, and, “There are few things more liberating than seeing your worst fear realized.”

He quickly put a stop to the mushy stuff, concluding, “Our failure to become our perceived ideal ultimately defines us. I bet some of you have changed your sexual orientation during this speech.”

Legendary comic and actor Bill Cosby gave the commencement speech at his alma mater Temple University in 2012. The 75-year-old, known for his family-centric and clean humor, delivered his speech as if he was father to all the graduates. A bit grumpier than he used to be, he opened with, “If one of you tries to use this graduation as a Mother’s Day gift I hope you get punched in the mouth by an arthritic woman.”

He warned them that nobody wants a friend with no job and said, “Your parents aren’t James Brown. They’re tired of telling you to get up!”

The speech was short but sweet, never mentioned pudding, and the surly old hat wondered why anyone needed a master’s degree when they could be finding a job. In grandfatherly fashion, he concluded his remarks with, “Whatever you’re going to do, do what you’re supposed to do. You’ve got plenty of time, but don’t dream through it. Wake up!”

The world’s first fake news anchor, Jon Stewart, was the commencement speaker at his alma mater William and Mary in 2004. Behind an oak podium, he spoke as if he was sitting behind his Daily Show desk; intermingling clever and scatological humor with just a hint of sappiness. On the sweltering hot day, he said, “I’m sure the environment that now exists under your robes is similar to the one where primordial life first began.”

On his being selected as the keynote speaker: “As a person, I’m proud. As an alumnus, I believe we could do better.” Surprisingly, his speech wasn’t too drenched in politics, as one of the only bureaucratic comments he made was apologizing for what his generation did. “We’ve broken the real world. Sorry. But here’s the good news: you fix this thing, you’re the next great generation.”

As he surmised that many of the graduates would be moving back into mom and dad’s basement, and that six of them were probably trying to make a bong out of their graduation caps, he claimed that college is not predictive of future success, and “the right path” is a fairy tale.

“Accepting that greatly eases the anxiety of your life experience,” he said. Recounting a college story, he said that he lost his virginity back in ’81, only to gain it back on appeal two years later. Perhaps, this quote sums it up best: “The unfortunate, yet truly exciting things about your life is there is no core curriculum, the entire place is an elective, the paths are infinite and the future uncertain. College is something you complete, life is something you experience.”

Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and a leader for women’s workplace rights, was the commencement speaker at Barnard College‘s 2011 ceremonies. In her trademark upbeat and ultra-positive manner, she delivered her speech to the all-girls school with grace and wit. “I graduated from college 20 years ago,” she said. “And as I’m reminded everyday where I work, that makes me really old.”

She encouraged the graduates to not take their lot in life for granted, saying, “You leave not just with an education, but you take your place among the fortunate. You are all privileged, you have almost boundless opportunity.” Sandberg claimed that everyday she asks herself what she would do if she weren’t afraid, and said there was a sign hanging at the Facebook offices inscribed with, “Fortune favors the bold.” She asked the graduates what they would do if they weren’t afraid.

Her motivational speech ended with this: “I hope that each and every one of you has the ambition to run the world, because we need you to run it. I know it’s a daunting task, but you can do it if you lean in.”

Steve Jobs delivered the granddaddy of all commencement speeches at Stanford in 2005. Just one year removed from his first cancer scare, Jobs was healthy and about to step into the most successful period of his already highly accomplished career. Perhaps the most viewed commencement speech in history, his words were beautiful because they were simple, and Jobs didn’t try to hard to be clever or funny.

He told three stories: one about dropping out of college, one about getting fired from a company he founded, and one about his philosophy on life. Most people probably take the fonts on their iPhones and MSWord documents for granted, but Steve Jobs was the first person to develop beautiful typography on computers, and it all stemmed from him “dropping in” on a calligraphy class.

He spoke of professional fulfillment, urging, “Your work is going to fill a large chunk of your life, and the only way to feel satisfied is to do what you believe is truly great work.”

The most haunting and poignant element of his speech came when he talked about how motivated he is by death. “Death is the single best invention of life,” he said. “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.” Sadly, Jobs did die six years later at the age of 56, but the product of his work ethic surely changed the world. With his speech coming to a close, he looked out into the sea of graduates and implored them to, “Stay hungry, stay foolish.”

Florida Gulf Coast’s Cinderella run ended with a whimper against big brother Florida, Michigan staged an unbelievable comeback against Kansas in the only overtime game thus far, and nine seed Wichita State is in their first Final Four since 1964. Jim Boeheim and Syracuse’s oft-shaky squad have used a seamless 2-3 zone defense to get to Atlanta, while Louisville hasn’t let off the gas since their opening round throttling of North Carolina A&T.

The two games on Sunday afternoon weren’t even close, and the most shocking aspect of the day was Louisville’s Kevin Ware breaking his leg after contesting a shot from Duke’s Tyler Thornton. When Ware landed, his right shin snapped in half, exposing a considerable among of bone and leaving the entire arena shuddering. ABC News’ Liz Neporent explained the injury. Louisville players fell to their knees and wept on the court, and gathered around Ware as he was wheeled off on a stretcher. He told them to go win the game, and they abided. With the score knotted at 42, Louisville used a stellar 17-2 run to ice the game. Louisville’s stellar guard play, size and athleticism in the paint, and emotional crusade to win for their fallen teammate, the Cardinals are the favorite to win it all.

No. 1 Louisville vs. No. 9 Wichita State

No team has been able to stop Rick Pitino’s Louisville squad, but Wichita State has been surprising more talented all tournament long. Louisville’s lightning quick guard tandem of Russ Smith and Peyton Siva will test the mettle of Shocker guards Malcom Armstead and Tekele Cotton. WSU will also have to throw guards Ron Baker, Fred Van Vleet, and Demetric Williams at the duo and just see if anything works. Shocker forward Carl Hall will find it difficult to score against shot blocker Gorgui Dieng, and if WSU isn’t getting points inside, Cleanthony Early and his teammates need to be on fire from the three point line. The game will be closer than most people imagine, but Louisville just seems like a special, once in a generation team. In the end, they’re too talented and motivated to lose. Louisville will gain control late and advance to the National Championship game.

No. 4 Michigan vs. No. 4 Syracuse

Both of these teams are four seeds, but they couldn’t be more different. Michigan was ranked in the top 5 all year, while Syracuse huffed and puffed its way to nine losses, nearly losing relevance. Freshman point guard Michael Carter-Williams has started to consistently play at his ceiling, and Syracuse’s stifling zone defense held Indiana to a season low 50 points. Now we’ll see what their ugly but effective brand of defense can do to a Wolverine team ranked first in offensive efficiency. Point guard Trey Burke and company are the most gifted scoring team in the country. Guard Nik Stauskas hits three pointers at an astonishing 45% clip, and freshman forward Mitch McGary had an out of body experience in March, averaging 17.5 points and 11.5 rebounds per game. While Syracuse has been holding opponents to 46 points a game, they’re only averaging 61 points through the last three games, a number that will have to increase if they want to keep this one close. Michigan has seen a little bit of everything so far, and I expect them to juice the Orange. They’ll play Louisville for the title in Atlanta.

Of the remaining 16 teams, 30% are between seeds six through 15. For the first time in history, a number 15 seed team (Florida Gulf Coast) is in the Sweet 16. Ninth seeded Wichita State upset number one Gonzaga in a stunning third round match in which the Shockers shot an incredible 54% from three. La Salle, a 13th seed, shocked Kansas State and Mississippi to advance. The games have been unprecedented from a competitive standpoint, as Kansas and Gonzaga nearly became the first one seeds in tourney history to lose to a 16 seed.

Though predicting how the rest of the mayhem will play out makes me as mad as a March hare, I’ll play Cinderella and give it the old college try.

Midwest Region

Shocking Upset: No. 12 Oregon 74, No. 4. St. Louis 57

Sweet 16 Match Ups:

No. 1 Louisville vs. No. 12 Oregon

Two teams that are playing devastatingly efficient, I think Louisville’s size advantage and inspired guard play will topple the under-seeded Ducks.

No. 2 Duke vs No. 3 Michigan St.

Michigan State will finally meet some complimentary size in the paint, but with Mason Plumlee dominating down low and Seth Curry lighting up all over the court, the Blue Devils will roll over the outmatched Spartans.

South Region

Shocking Upset: No. 15 Florida Gulf Coast 78, No. 2 Georgetown 68

Sweet 16 Match Ups:

No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 4 Michigan

With Ben McLemore only shooting 15% thus far and the rest of his teammates committing an egregious amount of turnovers, the cadre of lottery picks on the Wolverines squad will dominate early. The Jayhawks will make a final push, but Michigan prevails.

No. 3 Florida vs. No. 15 Florida Gulf Coast

I just can’t bet against Florida Gulf Coast. They’re doing their best LA Clippers “Lob City” impression and winning by an average of 10 points a game. They will overwhelm the Gators and shock the world.

West Region

Shocking Upset: No. 9 Wichita State 76, No. 1 Gonzaga 70

Sweet 16 Match Ups:

No. 9 Wichita State vs. No. 13 La Salle

La Salle has essentially had to play three perfect games to get to the Sweet 16, and when they faced a well coached, defensive minded, and efficient three point shooting team, the basketball Gods will not smile upon them. WSU moves on.

No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 6 Arizona

The pesky defense of Aaron Craft, the “old man’s game” of Deshaun Thomas, and an uber-athletic supporting Buckeye cast will be too much for Arizona, a team that’s had an easy draw thus far.

East Region

Shocking Upset: No. 12 California 64, No. 5 UNLV 61

Sweet 16 Match Ups:

No. 1 Indiana vs. No. 4 Syracuse

Syracuse has been inconsistent all season and if future lottery pick Michael Carter-Williams doesn’t show up, Victor Oladipo and crew will take them behind the woodshed. The Hoosiers simply have too many options and will roll over the inexperienced Orange.

No. 2 Miami vs. No. 3 Marquette

Marquette needed 39 minutes and a lot of luck to win each of their first two games against Davidson and Butler. Kenny Larkin and the high flying Miami offense won’t be as forgiving, and I fully expect them to blow out the Golden Eagles.

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Let’s break down some of the NCAA tournament’s impact players, possible upsets and exciting potential match ups.

Midwest Region

Top Overall Seed: No. 1 Louisville

Don’t Sleep On: No. 4 Saint Louis

Potential Upset: No. 10 Cincinnati over No. 7 Creighton

Creighton big man Doug McDermott is a versatile scorer who can reel off 30-plus points if he’s feeling it. But Cincinnati’s Sean Kilpatrick and Cashmere Wright can score too, and their team’s solid defense and rebounding should help them prevail.

Possible Elite Eight Match Up: No. 1 Louisville vs. No. 2 Duke

Phenomenal guard play for Louisville and high-efficiency scoring for Duke will help them advance to the Midwest championship game. Louisville’s Gorgui Dieng can hold his own with Duke’s Mason Plumlee, but do the Cardinals have an answer for Ryan Kelly stretching the floor? Louisville is just tougher, expect them to advance.

South Region

Top Overall Seed: No. 1 Kansas

Don’t Sleep On: No. 5 VCU

Potential Upset: No. 11 Minnesota over No. 6 UCLA

With UCLA’s Jordan Adams out for the season with an injury, UCLA’s young core of players have lost their glue guy. Shabazz Muhammad will get his shots and score a respectable amount of points for UCLA, but point-forward Kyle Anderson and the Wear twins have looked frazzled during big games this season. Again, big games are won with defense and controlling the glass, so Minnesota’s toughness and rebounding will help them advance.

Possible Elite Eight Match Up: No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 3 Florida

Both teams can score in bunches and play stifling defense. This will be a high octane game with Kansas center Jeff Withey trying to shut down Florida’s beast down low, Patric Young. This game will come down to guard play. Kansas freshman phenom Ben McLemore helps the ‘Hawks advance.

East Region

Top Overall Seed: No. 1 Indiana

Don’t Sleep On: No. 6 Butler

Potential Upset: No. 14 Davidson over No. 3 Marquette

Davidson’s veteran players and efficient offense will be no match for a Marquette team that’s floundered at times this season. If the Wildcats can keep Marquette’s Davante Gardner and Chris Otule out of the paint, they will advance.

Possible Elite Eight Match Up: No. 1 Indiana vs. No. 2 Miami

Two of the best teams this season will meet for the East championship. It’ll come down to how Miami’s Kenny Kadji handles Indiana’s Cody Zeller. Although the Hurricanes have dynamic point guard Shane Larkin, I believe Hoosier guard Victor Oladipo will be too much. Indiana advances.

West Region

Top Overall Seed: No. 1 Gonzaga

Don’t Sleep On: No. 10 Iowa State

Potential Upset: No. 11 Belmont over No. 6 Arizona

Three point shooting is the great equalizer in NCAA tournament basketball. Belmont shoots the three well, and lead the nation in two-point field goal percentage. With Arizona’s subpar three point defense, the Belmont Bruins will roll on.

Possible Elite Eight Match Up: No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 10 Iowa State

Kelly Olynk and Gonzaga will grind their way to the West championship game and meet an Iowa State team that rode an NBA style offensive system to the round of 8. Iowa State relies heavily on the three, and if they aren’t falling, I expect Gonzaga will muscle their way to the Final Four.

Meaningless Final Four Prediction:

No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 1 Indiana

No. 1 Louisville vs. No. 1 Gonzaga

Completely Accurate National Championship Prediction:

No. 1 Louisville vs. No. 1 Kansas

National Champion: Louisville

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In Dale J. Stephens’ book Hacking your Education, he makes a case for an alternative post-high school route. The book is his love letter to other free thinking people who have ever questioned their college education. It begins with a disclaimer: This is not a book about dropping out but rather about becoming empowered to make your own decisions. For a college dropout who bucked educational convention, he sure did his homework.

Stephens, a 20 year old wunderkind, has taken the time to productively analyze the quandaries frustrated college students have, but are too lazy to take to task.

The author has taken the principles of the unschooling movement, a philosophy started in the 1970s that encourages learning through real life experiences, and ushered them into the Internet and social media age. He has oodles of thorough advice on how to connect with like minded individuals in an attempt to foster your passions. Stephens accurately points out the loads of free, open to the public presentations on a wide variety of topics at university campuses everywhere. “Hacking Your Education” is all about identifying resources and sapping them dry.

The reasons we go to college are narrowed down to three: social experience, job readiness, and learning for learnings sake. You can get hopped up and make some mistakes whether you’re in college or not, and the public library has thousands of free books if learning is your bag. The point is, according to Stephens, you, and you alone, must decide for yourself why you are in college.

The statistics involved might make you feel like you just ate the mystery meat at the cafeteria. The average student loan debt of a post-grad is $27,000 (mom, dad…help?). Perhaps even more stomach churning is the fact that 44.4% of college grads under 25 are unemployed or working jobs that don’t require their degree. The next time you see a custodian mopping the halls of your school, picture Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting, as a study by the Chronicle of Education found there are 5700 janitors with PhDs. Stephens tells us we’re burning about $250 per hour long class. Think about that the next time you’re snoozing through English 101.

The impressive thing about Hacking Your Education is the lessons therein don’t solely apply to scholarly pursuits, but self-improvement as a whole. The author is not a radical, he simply encourages the reader to take due diligence before making the biggest decision of your life. Ask yourself why you’re going to school. Don’t go just to go, you could get caught in the cycle of mediocrity and boredom.

While I easily identify with the struggle and commend the sharp analyzation, I would be remiss if I didn’t include a disclaimer of my own. Stephens paints a nice picture for the uncollege movement and makes a case for a life-experience based education. But has he led a charmed intellectual life? Born with a rare entrepreneurial gene, Stephens claims you don’t have to be a genius to succeed in the uncollege path.

Easy for him to say, he’s a genius.

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“The Last Text” features four people whose lives have been impacted by a simple text message. The names of the individuals featured in the documentary are not mentioned, but if you take ten minutes of your time to watch the documentary you will think twice before texting and driving.

The documentary opens up with a highway patrol officer who talks about his encounters with multiple fatal accidents caused by texting. The officer has to pause for a second during the documentary because he becomes emotional discussing the young lives lost.

Three minutes into the documentary you meet a young lady who is Ashley’s sister. Ashley is young lady whose life was lost due to texting. Ashely was texting her sister, “Yeah,” when her car hit a median and she was ejected from her car.

So before you think about texting and driving, please think about yourself and the life you are leaving behind for a simple text message.

Here are some more texting and driving statistics that will make you want to put your cell phone down while you are in the car. Statistics are provided by Distraction.gov.

• Teenage drivers who are texting spend about 10% of their time driving outside of the driving lane.
• Over 1/3 of all young drivers, ages 24 and under, are texting on the road.
• Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times more likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves.
• Sending or receiving a text takes a driver’s eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent at 55 mph of driving the length of an entire football field, blind.
• Driving while using cell phones reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37%.

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• During last night’s State of the Union address, President Obama referenced the new college scorecard, promising to help parents “get the most bang for your educational buck.”

• Today the interactive scorecard was released to provide students and families an interactive tool that will help them pick their best school option.

• According to ed.gov, the tool allows for users to evaluate schools based on individual needs such as  location, size, campus setting, and degree and major programs.

• Each scorecard will include five elements about each college: costs, graduation rates, loan default rates, average amount borrowed, and employment.

• Earning potential will be added to the scorecard this coming year.

• President Obama said last night, ”Through tax credits, grants and better loans, we’ve made college more affordable for millions of students and families over the last few years. But taxpayers can’t keep on subsidizing higher and higher and higher costs for higher education. Colleges must do their part to keep costs down, and it’s our job to make sure that they do.”

College scorecard!!! Can’t wait!

— New America Ed (@NewAmericaEd) February 13, 2013

The College Scorecard is up. Nothing really new here. Just info on costs, graduation and loan default rates 1.usa.gov/11Fen0m — Corinne Weisgerber (@corinnew) February 13, 2013

According to new CollegeScoreCard: #ubuffalo costs $12838/yr net price for undergraduates. Ranked as “low”. #suny 1.usa.gov/XzWzLU

— Jillian Reading (@jillianreading) February 13, 2013

President announces “College Scorecard.” Compare schools to see where you can get the most bang for your education buck. #SOTU — US Dept of Education (@usedgov) February 13, 2013

Obama’s College Scorecard determines the best value of your school AKA it tells you if your school is worth going to.

— Stephen A. Green (@encouraging1) February 13, 2013

Thrilled about the college scorecard! Students should be able to select college based on job placement statistics. #nobrainer #sotu — Matthew Segal (@OurTimeMatthew) February 13, 2013

Each month, the members of CharitySub.org donate just $5 to help a different cause, which changes monthly and has included service animals, veterans, sustainable fishing, arts education, and childhood obesity. Three organizations for each cause are featured in a brief video, and members select which organization will receive their $5.

This month, your $5 will help one of the three Empowered Education programs. Take a look here and then learn more at CharitySub.org.

1. Teaching Matters is a program designed to increase teacher effectiveness to prepare all students with critical thinking and college readiness skills. Teachers in urban schools are trained through Teaching Matters to build skills that help close the learning gaps within each grade. By giving five dollars this month, the program will be continue to reach 2,000 public school teachers and 80,000 students.

2. Center For Inspired Teaching (Inspired Teaching) trains teachers to do more than just inform students on school subjects. The program  is designed to train teachers to reengage and more actively by building a student’s intellect, inquiry, imagination, and integrity. Donating five dollars to Inspired Teaching will go to schools in the Washington D.C. and Baltimore areas.

3. AdoptAClassroom.org lets donors help teachers purchase resources for their classrooms. Since AdoptAClassroom.org was created it in 1998, it has been able to help 3,705,032 students nationally! All of the money raised through AdoptAClassroom.org has gone to classrooms in need. Your donation will be able to help a teacher buy a range of school supplies like pencils, crayons, markers, tissue, and so much more, alleviating the burden of costs that typically come directly from a teacher’s pocket.

If you have five extra dollars on you this month, don’t hesitate to donate to one of the educational programs through CharitySub!

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