JEB BUSH
University of Texas, Class of 1973

I chose Texas because ‘ I don’t know that I could have gotten into Yale, that’s for sure (laughs). I went to Phillips Academy Andover, so that’s a fairly rigorous high school experience. At the time I went there, the late 60s, it was cynical time in the Northeast and actually I wanted to get back home. I was tired of the weather; I was tired of the attitudes. I wanted to go to Texas where I felt more comfortable. So I only applied to there.

For Texas, I was an in-state resident, and my SATs were good enough to automatically get in. I’ll tell you, getting in early made my senior year in high school a lot more enjoyable. Read More »

The key to success? Be a nice guy. Seriously.

Obviously, be competent, smart and forward-thinking. But according to Tim Sanders, author of The Likeability Factor, your career success depends on having personal well-being and playing well with others.

‘The grim reality is that life is a popularity contest,’ says Sanders, a Loyola-Maramont graduate and former indie-rock musician. ‘There was a Harvard Business Review study about how people select who they want to work with. And you know what? Everyone would rather work for a likable fool than a competent jerk.’

Sanders is part of a new breed of managers who are looking for ‘emotional talent.’ rather than just physical and mental skills. Being a nice guy, he shared with us some tips to finding emotional satisfaction in our career, from finding a perfect job to loving the one you get. Read More »

Josh Abramson and Ricky Van Veen were two typical college students in 1999 when they decided to harness the power of the Web. Forget file sharing, competing with Microsoft or Napster; these guys just wanted to collect all the crap that was floating around their school’s computer networks and showcase it for the world.

The end result, CollegeHumor.com, is genius in its simplicity. The site links to funny websites, stupid videos, a few (very funny) columns and some weird/hot/bizarre photos submitted by students. “We thought, if you’re a college student, you could either write for your school paper and have a thousand people see it, or you could have roughly a million people see it,” says Van Veen, whose offices are now in NYC.

With a book, The CollegeHumor Guide to College: Selling Kidneys for Beer Money, Sleeping with Professors, Majoring in Communications and Other Really Good Ideas, and more than nine million visitors hitting their site every month, the two co-founders sat down with COED in the Fall of 2005 to share their vision. Read More »

Owner: Spencer Lewin, The George Washington University
www.soapyjoes.com

Imagine getting your clothing washed by a company called Wiener’s Cleaners. Soapy Joe’s laundry service was almost called just that - until the owner’s mother interfered. “The logo would have had a picture of a really dorky guy, like a big weenie,” says Spencer Lewin, who started the company when he graduated from The George Washington University in 2003. Too bad he changed his mind!

Soapy’s clients get laundry done once a week for about $200/semester. Labor is completed by outside workers at a piece of a Laundromat the business owns. The company even has a contract with GW now, so parents are notified of the service. Read More »

It was late on a Tuesday night in early September. Most students were studying or sleeping, at home or in their dorm rooms. One student, a recent University of Maryland grad and the main attraction of a going-away party, talked to friends and family about why she decided to buy a one-way ticket to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Marie Claire Andrea, 22, from U Street in the District of Columbia, is just one of many Bachelor's degree holders who decide to shun nine-to-five America for at least a little while and volunteer or work abroad. Andrea has amassed 300 pounds of books to donate to an English-speaking church, which will provide her with a place to stay. She plans to learn Amharic and is deciding whether to earn a living by teaching Ethiopian university students or by helping a friendly entrepreneur conduct research.

If Andrea can serve as an example to recent graduates at large, a degree-holding young adult's only limit is the sky.

But Andrea took to the sky just two days later.

Jason Burns, 28, a regional recruiter for Peace Corps, said his goodbyes a few years before Andrea, when he was 24. His destination was West Africa.

While in Mali, Burns worked on malaria prevention, HIV/AIDS education, prenatal and postnatal care and nutritional counseling. He stayed for two years and three months, learning the native language, Bambara, and adopting the ethnic name, Seydou, which means 'one who is happy.'

'I didn't want to go as a tourist,' he said. 'I wanted to go to help. I qualified to either do English-teaching or public health work. ' I got public health.'

Burns, a Morgan State University alumnus, taught high school history in Silver Spring before joining Peace Corps.

He said he realized he needed a change when he found himself frequently lecturing his students about places he had never been to and trying to answer their tough questions on problem-solving in the developing world.

Not long after, he found himself in Mali outlining seven problem-solving solutions in Bambara to the leaders in his assigned community.

'I proposed practical solutions to the problems they were facing,' he said, reflecting on his time spent 'living in a mud hut, picking cotton [and] talking to old ladies about their lives.'

Peace Corps requires a two-year commitment with an additional three months of training and language immersion. It currently employs 7,810 volunteers and trainees in 138 countries, according to its website, peacecorps.org. Ninety-six percent of all volunteers hold at least a Bachelor's degree, Burns said.

Other graduates, such as Ahnna Smith, the recruitment director for Teach for America, the national organization that emphasizes education in low-income communities, decide to stay on the ground after graduation.

Smith was a government and politics major at the University of Maryland and planned to go to law school; she had even taken the LSAT. But upon graduating in December 2003, she joined Teach for America instead.

Teach for America carries a two-year commitment after graduation. It currently employs 4,400 teachers in 25 urban and rural regions, impacting 375,000 students annually, according to its website, teachforamerica.org. It was founded in 1990 by Wendy Kopp, who proposed the program in her senior thesis at Princeton University with the assumption that college graduates would invest their time and energy into bringing equality to education.

Kopp was right: The organization has grown from 500 members to almost 20,000 since its inception.

Smith said she first heard about Teach for America in an in-class presentation. During the presentation, she recalled hearing statistics on underachievement in America's education system and wanted to do something to fix the system.

Do you want to beat the rush-hour traffic of nine-to-five America? Want to have an exciting career story of your own while still in your twenties? Check out these other organizations and resources:
AmeriCorps (http://www.americorps.org/)
Action Without Borders (http://www.idealist.org/), http://www.goabroad.com/, http://www.workingabroad.org/
Nova Group ' Teach English in Japan (http://www.teachinjapan.com/)
TeachAbroad (http://www.teachabroad.com/search.cfm)

Graduating from college, I had no grand plan for a vocation. But I did at least know what didn’t appeal to me for a career: banking, advertising, sales - soulless professions, in my estimation. And so, through a process of elimination, I arrived at what I wanted to do: to be a writer or an editor, or both perhaps. But I should have known that all along: my grandfather was a writer and editor, and both my father and mother were editors and writers; in fact, they met at Newsweek. And my college professors had always admired my writing, which shined, in their estimation, in all the endless term papers I had to write to fulfill the requirements of being both an English and political science major.

For a year or so, I waited table, working late into the evening, crawling home late, sleeping into the afternoon and then getting up for another evening of being a waiter at a caf' on the Upper East Side in New York City. After a year or so, the routine was getting old and was becoming hazardous to my health. So, in earnest, three years after graduating from college, I began looking for a job in the publishing business.

It wasn’t easy. I purposely applied for jobs that amounted to secretarial work at publishing houses, assuming they couldn’t resist giving me a job that required so little in job skills other than the ability to type. From there, I figured, I would work my way up the ladder to be christened editor-in-chief of some glorious publication some day. Small hitch: human resource personnel assumed the same, that I wouldn’t stay put and be content with typing memos and running errands. So, time after time, I was overlooked as I was handed the same excuse. It was a vicious Catch-22.

The summer I began looking for a job was hot as blazes in New York City. You could hardly breathe: remorseless. I can remember shuttling from office lobby to office lobby just to take in the air-conditioning, which felt like diving into a cold pool, before commencing my scalding trek to the next fruitless interview. After 20 or so of these, I was beginning to give up hope. I thought I would never get a job, and I knew I would be good at it. My daytime job to hold me over was still waiting table, and the sight of serving another plate of food was making me nauseated.

A glimmer of hope came when my godfather contacted his daughter at The New York Post to inquire whether she could get me an interview with somebody there. Indeed, she did. Within a week, I was before the deputy manager editor of The Post, a gruff Australian with a thick neck and jowls, and a ruddy complexion that suggested a heavy drinker. 'I need copy boys,' he said, taking the measure of me. 'Nothing pretty: getting coffee and cigarettes for the editors; delivering newspapers around the building; being a go-for. Any appeaL?'

Of course, I said, a model of enthusiasm. And then I didn’t hear from The New York Post for five months: another trail run cold. Then, late one night, when it was early in the morning, a call came at 4:00. I was dead asleep, having survived marathon Labor Day traffic jams all the way back to my apartment. I had been asleep for maybe two hours. 'Is this a Mr. David Major? This is The New York Post. Can you be here by six o’clock?' Exhausted, incoherent and dead to the world, I mumbled: 'No, thank you. I already have a job' and hung up. My girlfriend, lying next to me, stirred: 'Who was the that?' 'The New York Post,' I said. 'The New York Post?! And you said you have a job?! Are you crazy?! Honey, call them back now and tell them you will be there, do you understand?'

Two hours later, after navigating the labyrinth subway network of New York City, I entered the front doors of The New York Post and I had began my career as a journalist.

Walter Iooss, a celebrated photographer at Sports Illustrated magazine since the 60s, is one of the founding fathers of the SI swimsuit issue, for which he has shot photos of the world’s most beautiful women for more than 40 years. When he is not going to exotic locales, he is busy photographing black millionaire athletes as well as rounding out his burgeoning portfolio with arresting landscape shots, portraits and other subjects. But it’s the girls who have a special place in his heart. Is it any wonder? His comments follow:

“By the time I was 17, growing up in East Orange, NJ, I had shot my first cover for Sports Illustrated. By 19, I was on the masthead. One editor yelled: 'What the hell is the magazine doing? Hiring children?'

'Shooting sports is my thing. Athletes, like actors and models, look good. They have presence. I like the motion and movement and grace of it all.'

'I once had Paulina Porizkova in a bikini on Montego Bay, in Jamaica. I was nervous: Would I get the shot? Then I said to myself: 'Walter, let's have fun with this. How the hell can you miss?''

'My favorite part of a woman's body? The butt. It's a feast for a photographer, beyond any guy's imagination.'

'At first, I was intimidated by Cheryl Tiegs. She would do her routine in five minutes: 'Well, Walter, did you get it?' 'No, I didn't get it,' I said. I taught her a new routine, like doing it a few more times.'

'Crushes? Oh, yeah. Some monster ones, especially when I was in my 30s. No names; I'm not going there. Hey, I'm human.'

'I work fast. I'm always on the move. I like to experiment with different camera formats, different lighting.'

Some of the girls don't want their asses shot; they don't think they have a good one. They let me know that real quick. So, I will put them in a thong or turn them around or put them on their back. Then I go for the shot.'

'A lot of photographers settle for just a good shot, just to cover their ass; they're scared. I have always been willing to risk the whole game to get that one killer shot.'

'The girls are all beautiful, some more than others. Then there are a few who can really pose ' like, my god. I put them by a rock and you can't believe what goes on. Veronica Varekova [model on the 2004 SI cover] is one of them.'

'I've never met a wall I didn't like. It's a portable studio, a great background. You get great colors and shadows on them. You isolate the girl. Remember: bad background, bad picture.'

'People think that these girls are so free about dropping their clothes and walking around practically nude in front of me. Some are; most are not.'

'These models see their imperfections when they look into the mirror, just like everybody else. But they are top pros, and they know they are good at what they do and good at how they look.'

'For the 10 days that I shoot the swimsuit issue each year, I can only charge my lowest day rate, the same as it was 25 years ago. At this stage in my life, I'd do it for nothing.'

'When a girl appears on the cover of Sports Illustrated, her life changes. She is an overnight star and a millionaire.'

'It's difficult for these girls to be so beautiful. It's a gift and a curse. They walk into a room, and the room goes silent. Hearts stop. Guys lose themselves. I've seen it a 100 times.'

EDUCATION
School of Hard Knocks

EARLY WORK
' First cover for Sports Illustrated at age 17
' On the magazine masthead by age 19
' First cover of a swimsuit model, 1973

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
' Photographer for SI, since 1963
' Shot SI swimsuit covers for the issues of: ཀ, ༿, ྜ, ྚ, ྏ, ྋ, ྊ, ྇, ྅.
' Book author of Hoops: Four Decades of the Pro Game (2005); Walter Iooss: a Lifetime Shooting Sports and Beauty; Sporting Life: the Journals of Walter Iooss; Classic Baseball: the Photographs of Walter Iooss; Rare Air: Michael on Michael.

'In his 20-plus years in the music industry, Gehringer has 'mastered' (a.k.a. mixed the separate tracks of a song into a final stereo mix) records for Wu-Tang Clan, LL Cool J, Nelly, Nas and Joss Stone, among others.

CO-ED: How did you decide to be producer and not a musician?
I always liked this stuff. In high school, I joined AV. My step-sister was, like, 'You can't join AV; it's all nerds!' I thought it was cool before I realized it was nerds. I liked doing the lighting and sound for shows, though.

You graduated from something called the Institute of Audio Research.
It was one of the only schools teaching engineering for the industry. You got what you needed before you got to a place like Sterling Sound. I went back to talk to students recently, and it's the same people ' the hip-hop guy, the Goth guy, the metal kids ' trying to figure out where they fit.

What is it that you exactly do?
You have three steps: recording, mixing and mastering, which is making sure everything sounds right. A master goes to the plan, the last chance for perfection. People put it on us: 'We couldn't get it right. Fix it.' You have to have an ear for it. You have to vibe with the artist, figure out what they want ' and use the equipment to make the music. Some artists let me do my thing; some work with me when they have a strong idea.

What do you suggest for people looking to get into this line of work?
If they have no college education, go get it. Get all the information you can and be ready to start at the bottom. You get exposed to every aspect. Some things you learn at school; some you can't until you are doing it.

What is the most crucial aspect of your business?
To work in a studio, you have to know how it operates ' and love it. As long as everyone loves the release when it comes out, you're golden.

PROFILE: Chris Gehringer
Born May 27, 1962

OBJECTIVE
To make sure the music you listen to sounds damn good.

EDUCATION
Institute of Audio Research, 1983

RELATED EXPERIENCE
Mastering Engineer, Sterling Sounds, 2000-present
Going on five years mastering records at Sterling Sounds, the premier audio-mastering studio in the U.S. Worked with multi-platinum artists, including LL Cool J, Fat Joe, Joss Stone, Bootsy Collins and Lil’ Kim.
Mastering Engineer, The Hit Factory, 1988-2000
At New York recording institution, became the go-to guy for hip-hop and R&B; mastered first Wu-Tang Clan album, Toni Braxton's first single, PM Dawn and Boyz 2 Men's 'End of the Road' (#1 hit for 23 weeks).
Mastering Engineer, Frankford-Wayne, NYC, 1985-1988
Developed rock expertise with his mastering work on records by G.G. Allen and White Zombie.
Mastering Assistant, Trutone Records, 1984-1985
Got his start working on album by metal legend Glenn Danzig.
To see Chris Gehringer's discography, and to learn more about Audio Mastering and Sterling Sound, go to www.sterling-sound.com.

Well, don't you have it all figured out? You pulled down a 3.3 in your business major; you have some job interviews lined up; and, hey, you're halfway presentable in that new suit. This job thing should be a lay-up.

Not so fast. Ever seen yourself eat? Not pretty, my friend. Not at all. With a competitive job market, shoddy (or no) table manners will kill any deal. Gratefully, colleges are coming to the rescue, staging dining-etiquette boot camps to help you become the suave dinner guest and gracious raconteur ('one who tells stories and anecdotes with skill and wit' ' American Heritage Dictionary) you were meant to be.

You won't be alone in your aspirations. Students are showing up in droves, aware that, having spent a life wolfing take-out in front of the TV ' certainly not eating with mom, dad and siblings over a home-cooked meal ' they are sights for sore eyes.

'Companies are now hiring the entire package, not just someone with a high GPA,' says Mark Westfield, the missionary for manners who, for 15 years, has toured colleges to conduct dining-etiquette programs, most recently at the State University of New York. 'Students want that competitive edge, and they will be a better employee with these skills. I can work wonders with them.'

Many dining-etiquette events commence with a 'mocktail' hour at which alumni and business types mingle with students, who are given pointers on everything from the fine art of ingratiating small talk to juggling an hors d'oeuvres plate in one hand while shaking hands with the other. For dinner, students dine amid fine china, linen table clothes, waitstaff and candlelight. It's all very romantic! Okay, perhaps not ' certainly not when there are pop quizzes and performance evaluations throughout the meal.

'Students feel inadequate about interviewing for a job over dinner,' says Patricia Cordner of Marist College, in Poughkeepsie, NY, host of Goofs, Goblets and Getting the Edge. 'This is an up-and-coming thing. They want to know.' Common inquiries include: What do you order to eat? How do you introduce your date? Is it okay to have a drink if offered? What about that olive pit?

'Don't be afraid to make a mistake; there is often no 'right' way to do something,' says Nancy Paul, of SUNY Binghamton's career development center. 'It's a matter of being comfortable. Practice makes perfect.' First feat? No cell phone use at the party.

Do the Right Thing

Don’t
You enter the reception, spot the buffet table and make a beeline for it in order to hoard the shrimp before a crowd accumulates.

Do
Easy does it. How about striking up a conversation with somebody you don't know? That's why you are there, not to cower and chow down on seafood.

Don’t
For your appetizer, you order soup, which arrives very hot. You blow on it to cool it down.

Do
Gauche! Let it cool on its own. By the way, when you get down to business, don't slurp it and, as you get to the dregs, tip the bowl away from you to spoon the rest.

Don’t
Bread is the staff of life, we agree. In your exuberance, you dip your own bread knife into the butter (instead of using the knife with the butter dish), slather it on your roll as if frosting a cake and chow down.

Do
Poor form. Using the butter knife furnished with the butter, not your own; place the butter on your bread dish (small one, 10 o'clock), not the bread (not yet, anyway). Take your own butter knife and butter broken-off portions as you eat them.

Don’t
You drop your salad fork (that's the smaller one) and stretch over, chairing up on its hind legs, to a neighboring table to replace it from a setting.

Do
Gesture to the waiter, discreetly (no napkin-waving, please), who will replace your utensil gone MIA. Same remedy applies with other gravity-sensitive items.Your Cordon Bleu is placed before you. You reach for the salt and pepper and proceed to season your food.

Don’t
Getting up to excuse yourself from the table, you announce to the world that you are leaving, and why, draping your napkin over the back of your chair.

Do
No reason to announce that you are departing. Who really cares, anyway? Quietly excuse yourself and place your napkin, loosely folded, to the left of your plate.

Don’t
Somebody you are talking to has a piece of spinach caught in his teeth. You ignore the offending item and feign ongoing interest in the conversation. Maybe a little embarrassed, he'll appreciate the heads-up.

Do
Discreetly inform the guest, with a hint of nonchalant levity, that he has something caught in his incisor.

Don’t
After dinner, some of the business recruiters invite willing souls to drinks down the street for an informal finale ' you know, a friendly nightcap.

Do
Politely decline the offer and leave how you came: a young professional. There is nothing wrong with saying 'No, thank you.' Your restraint might lead to a job offer.