Hillbilly Elegy

impossible to say whether I would have
gotten the job. I was probably being
overconfident: My grades and résumé
were fine but not fantastic. However,
Amy’s advice stopped me from making a
life-altering decision. It prevented me
from moving a thousand miles away
from the person I eventually married.
Most important, it allowed me to accept
my place at this unfamiliar institution—it
was okay to chart my own path and okay
to put a girl above some shortsighted
ambition. My professor gave me
permission to be me.
It’s hard to put a dollar value on that
advice. It’s the kind of thing that
continues to pay dividends. But make no