Hillbilly Elegy

needed was an interview and I’d get the
job. And I knew that if she pushed my
application hard enough, I’d get the
interview.
That was when I learned the value of
real social capital. I don’t mean to
suggest that my professor picked up the
phone and told the judge he had to give
me an interview. Before she did that, my
professor told me that she wanted to talk
to me very seriously. She turned
downright somber: “I don’t think you’re
doing this for the right reasons. I think
you’re doing this for the credential,
which is fine, but the credential doesn’t
actually serve your career goals. If you
don’t want to be a high-powered