I can't stand this sort of article. They reek of naivety. When I was at university (and thus part of the 'general college body' mentioned in the article), I did what mattered to me. General mass-socialising didn't really matter to me, so I didn't do it, but as a result also didn't meet many individuals who might have eventually mattered to me. I spent a long time studying various areas within my subject that mattered to me - sadly they were never on the syllabus.

I ended up rattling around a shared house full of people that I largely suspected of hating me, slowly sliding out of school, having only the few things that did matter to me sustain me in a life that increasingly didn't. Doing what mattered to me got me through, but doing so at the expense of what mattered to other people put me there in the first place.

Sadly, the gung-ho tone of the piece would be spoiled by a notice that any extreme either way would be bad, but I think it needs to be kept in mind.