Gene Sperling: Class of 1982
I entered the University of Minnesota needing what might now be called an “extreme makeover� in terms of study habits. In high school I prided myself on my ability to survive without regular studying or even regular note-taking. In the fall of 1977, however, as panic over my first midterm exam propelled me to spend grueling nights in the basement of Wilson Library, it hit me: If I were going to compete all four years on the men’s tennis team and attend a top law school for three years after that, I was going to have to find a way to make long hours of study not only less painful, but downright tolerable.
So while I coaxed myself every night after tennis practice and rushed dinners at Centennial Hall to trudge to the basement of Wilson Library, I also took ice cream breaks in the underground cafeterias, had rendezvous with tennis teammates over fries at Annie’s Parlor, made late-night long distance calls to high school buddies, and, of course, wandered in search of the sports action. Friends pointed out that if I skipped these diversions, I might avoid closing down Wilson at 2:00 a.m. so often. Perhaps, yet finding those moments of pure relief in every evening—pure joy, in the case of the ice cream—helped give me the confidence that I could sustain my commitment to studying without hating it or burning out. Many years later, even as I found myself in jobs of high responsibility, with days so jam-packed I could barely catch my breath, that Wilson Library lesson—balancing hours of dedication with laughter and friendship—sustained me well even during the most stressful of times.
Mr. Sperling works for the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C. He holds a B.A. in Political Science (’82) from the U of M.