These are both fair points. I tried to make clear that my intention was to demonstrate that you can still have fun and achieve professional success, not to prove I was cool. Too often, ambitious high school students are told they have to sacrifice and work really hard. There’s not as much time for a social life. I worked hard in high school and college to ultimately attend a highly competitive college (UCLA) and law school (UC Berkeley Law). Arguably, I might have earned admission to even better schools if I didn’t have so much fun but I don’t regret my great memories at all.

I also think my social skills are what enabled me to succeed professionally, not my strong work ethic or ability to memorize and regurgitate information. That was the primary purpose of this story, although perhaps I wasn’t clear enough to have subsequently prompted this comment.