Like most college students, I was convinced I was going to be making the big bucks after graduation. I wanted to work in advertising and to be frank, I never looked up earnings for people in that career. I pictured Hollywood's portrayal of a cool, collected and well-paid advertising executive, and I thought that would be me. I reasoned that I was attending a great school (an Ivy League school, even) and that if my starting annual salary wasn't at least as much as one year's worth of tuition, then what was the point?