According to the 2007 U.S. Census, the "real median household income in the United States [is] ... $50,233." The tuition for one year at Brandeis (plus required fees and basic room and board) is $49,554-almost 99 percent of the median household income in the United States. While many schools offered financial aid even before our current economic crisis, affording tuition at a private university requires a significant proportional financial investment for most families. Today, the economic downturn has forced students and families (or, at the very least, myself and my own family) to think of college education in bottom-line terms.

The notion of thinking about college in terms of bringing the greatest return on an investment is interesting and potentially worthwhile. Without regular self-examination, it's not that difficult to waste away four years at a university. But constantly asking the question "Am I getting my money's worth?" can be dangerous. This is because the easiest way of gauging success in a university is through data that could be laid out on a spreadsheet or put on a résumé-GPA, number of clubs in which you are involved, awards won, etc. Assessing the worth of a college experience in this way entirely overlooks less mainstream opportunities that are often impossible to quantify and may look one way when entered into an Excel spreadsheet but be the opposite in reality. It's easy to fall into this mindset and fail to notice the once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that come with being between 18 and 22 years old in college.

"I think my parents think about my academic success more than I do," says Megan Strum '12, who defines her family's economic status as middle class. She says she feels the current financial pressure and believes that if she ever failed a course, her parents "would be furious. It takes a lot to get me here, and if I'm not getting their money's worth, which is succeeding in academics, then they'd ask why are they sacrificing so much-why are they working so hard for so many hours to send me here?"

Even if my father weren't able to slip in a kinda-joking-but-not-really "Am I getting my money's worth out of your time there?" each time we speak on the phone, the pressure to provide my parents with quantifiable results of a successful college education would still be very real. Even the best spinmaster would have trouble explaining how my failing grade of E in Hebrew is indicative of me capitalizing on my expensive moments here. Sometimes, however, what may look terrible on paper-a C- in chemistry, not getting a part in a play, losing a Student Union election, etc.-can be an even better learning experience than a thousand Economics lectures. Often, there is more to learn from messing up than from succeeding, and what better time to learn the lessons of failure than now, when the stakes are lower than they'll probably ever be in the workforce.

Possibly the greatest opportunity that college provides is one that a statistical, bottom-line analysis would misread-the chance to fall on your face. College is our last stop before the real world and possibly the last place where we can fall on our faces with little or no repercussions. College should be the place to learn our limits-a place to test-drive our bodies and minds. Take six challenging courses and see if you can come out alive. Try out for a team or a show and see if you make it. In many ways, failing and being rejected can be even more valuable in the long term than success or acceptance. See how much is too much when it comes to drinking (though I wouldn't recommend doing that too often) and discover the beauty of knowing when to stop. The one thing this real world that waits for us at the end of our four years here can guarantee is the occasional rejection and failure. Having experienced those sensations in college will help us to realize the importance of sucking it up and moving on.

A good fall teaches us how to pick ourselves up again and move on. Though nobody wants to fall, there is something to be said for learning how to fall gracefully, get back up and keep walking. If we think about each moment spent here in terms of bang for our buck, it is easy to try to avoid challenges where we very well may not succeed and miss out on this rare opportunity for life training.

If only I could explain that to my parents ...