Writing this book has been an adventure all its own. Peter and Sue toyed with the idea of writing a book for nearly a decade, advancing it by baby steps because most conversations took place at the gym or loud college functions. It was not until indefatigable Anne joined the merry band as a recent grad that we got this book steadily under way.
That being said, we could not have written the book without the countless students, faculty, and administrators who, over the years, have shared with us their lessons learned the hard way. Some will easily find themselves in the anecdotes we have included; others will have to look a bit harder, but we assure you that you’re here—in the stories, in the counsel, and in our most sincere gratitude.
We eagerly thank all those who read the draft manuscript, in whole or in part, and gave us the kind of trenchant feedback we needed. We especially thank Dorothy Lou Bailey, Andrea Beschel, Lauren Betz, Autumn Bonner, Nick Bonner, Tanvi Buch, Hans Buder, Barbara Carlson, Josh Crossman, Lisa Disbrow, Rebecca Duckworth, Brian Fawcett, John Feaver, Ruth Feaver, Carol Fidler, Joshua Foromera, Helen Giles, Arunabha Guha, Onome Ofoman, David Selinger, Philip Whisenhunt, Beth Whitehead, Billy Zarzour, and John Zink.
Thank you to Sheila Curran, who led us to the good people of Ten Speed Press, and to the Crown Publishing Group for encouraging us to pursue a second edition. We are also immensely grateful to Emily Timberlake, our editor, for taking our book to a new level of excellence, and for Jean Blomquist and Molly Woodward, who scrubbed the manuscript shiny bright.
Above all, we would like to thank our families, who were supportive, patient, and long-suffering through this process. A special thanks to Karen, who too many nights caught Peter sending furtive emails of chapter drafts after he’d already spent a long, hard day at the White House, and to Josh for giving up countless weekends of kayaking to stay home with the kids so Anne could warm a seat at the public library.