It's graduation week at George Washington University, where Steve has taught for the last 23 years.A survey conducted by Gallup and Purdue University recently measured what things have the most influence on successful college graduates who are "engaged at work and experiencing high well-being after graduation." The price -- or prestige -- of the institution they attended had little impact, the survey concluded.What did matter to students was their college experience, particularly professors who "made me excited about learning ... cared about me as a person (and) encouraged me to pursue my goals and dreams."We were both very fortunate as students to know adults who believed in us, but also pushed us. Hard.