Opportunities are everywhere. The challenge is to milk them for all they are worth. Being in college is a good example. You can either ruin brain cells, you can get your money's worth, or you can raise the bar for those around you. The choice is yours.

Swing a heavy bat. It will make you strong…and when you meet challenges they will seem not so overwhelming. You’ll get the energy you need when you get to the plate.

Being successful doesn’t necessarily mean being outstanding. Being successful means you fulfill your goals.

Listen to everyone and believe no one. Don't follow fashions. It just doesn't work. Instead, think of yourself as unique to a time and place and unique to yourself...and figure out how to reinvent yourself out of that uniqueness.

Ask for help, take criticism, and take care of your "in box."

Don’t miss any classes. Be on time.

There are no limits to your future opportunities if you do good work. (This comes from a former FV student who now teaches at a top (Ivy League) college.

Schedule your time.

Listen and interact with your classmates and your teachers. Take advantage of every opportunity.

The Warrior leaves nothing to chance. Remember the boy scout motto: "be prepared."

We all have a batting average. If you want to get accepted a lot, just apply to lots of places. Even if you bat 100, you'll get accepted at 1 out of 10 places.

Don't be too pushy, but it is OK to ask, "when may I contact you if I don't hear from you?" That way you are letting them stay in charge (or so they think).

Learn every day. As William Blake said, Without unceasing practice nothing can be done. Practice is art. If you leave off you are lost.

Exercise your body, your mind, and your smile every day.

Learn discipline by choosing very simple repetitive tasks (like always wearing two socks of the same color). Then you should graduate to more challenging goals. When you slip, just call it a "slip," and proceed. In two weeks it will begin to become a habit.

Take care of your body and the earth. Don't kill animals. Eat food that has had minimum processing and minimum chemicals. Fruits and vegetables, beans, whole grains, water.

Don't expect that anyone will come knocking. It has happened...but probably won't for you.

Learn everything you can about computers. They are here to stay, and most jobs depend on them.

Say thanks…from your heart.

Don't be a prima donna. Don't be a prima donna. Go to Florence or Rome and stand where Leonardo stood...and get "humbled."

Practice Aikido. Move in direction of the force. You'll end up moving in that direction anyway. But if you choose to flow, you'll minimize resistance and life will be the way you choose it to be.

Be punctual.

Keep your promises.

Part of selling is explaining. Even seasoned critics will be very influenced by what you say about your work. Everyone who is interested in your work is worth talking to about it. Most of the people who don't like your work are ignorant about what you are trying to do...and how you do it. Inform them and you might see a shift.

Successful people are generally very willing to talk to you about your trials and tribulations. Ask.

Time and again I see students sabotage opportunities. They give bad presentations. They have sloppy resumes. They have bad slides. They misspell words. They are late. Most of success is not genius. It is just paying attention to details.

Every day benefits you. But you need to give it your best.

Be kind.

Become familiar with everything. Know the work done in your media and in other media. Know the people who work in similar ways as you. Travel around the world.

Focus on your life, not your art. Take care of the edges and the center will take care of itself ((said both by Alois Senefelder, the inventor of lithography, and by a turn-of-the-century (19th) English gardener)).

Don't take too much credit. Nothing above are my ideas. It took a long time (and a long history) for us to evolve (if you call it that) from our ancestral cave dwellers.

When I lived in Peoria, and my wife-to-be lived in Elgin, I decided to hitchhike to visit her. I took my German Shepard with me for protection. I got picked up by the nicest people who all told me how stupid I was to hitchhike with a German Shepard. Sometimes other people don't know what they are talking about.

Don't try to win battles rather than wars. Battles sometimes are nice to win, until we realize the cost might be losing the war. Chaining your children up on the weekend might win the battle to keep them from disobeying you...but it might be their key to prison.

Catastrophe happens. Historically we know that it will happen over and over again...at the most inopportune times. It is not related to karma, cause, or how much we deserve it. The trick is to turn it around and figure out how to get the best of it.

Say "every day, day by day, I am getting better and better."

Say a prayer as you breathe…always.