I never questioned the senior-thesis requirement. As the deadline approached in April, I realized I’d better get started. I dropped out of rehearsals for Intime’s King Lear and spent countless hours researching in my little carrel in Firestone. My thesis subject was Kierkegaard and existentialism. I never had a faculty adviser; I never knew I could have access to one.

I did make the dash to the deadline. A few days before graduation, I was notified by the philosophy department that my thesis had been awarded its McCosh Prize. I was stunned! I still am.