I had a great idea for a column this week. Unfortunately, this isn’t it. After about 20 minutes of deep soul-searching, it occurred to me that some of you might be wondering how I write these columns.

People often ask me, How do you think of things to write about every week for your column? Isn’t it hard?” And the answer is, well, yes, it is quite difficult—at first. It’s like riding a bicycle.

A friend told me recently that one of the toughest parts of adjusting to life at Princeton was having to try out for extracurricular activities. Any Princetonian can testify to the validity of this ...