After 25 years (I graduated in 1988), it was wonderful to have the honor of being invited to give some guest lectures at my alma mater, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. In addition to enjoying great weather, eating some Tri-Tip and strawberries at the Thursday Farmer's Market, and seeing some great old friends, I spoke on the topics: "Adventures in Federal Agency Leadership" to Prof. William Riggs' CRP 530 Public Agency Management course; "Unlocking Some Mysteries of Traffic Flow Theory" to Prof. Anurag Pande's CE 529 Modeling and Simulation Lab; and "A Transportation Engineer Goes to Washington" to Prof. Pande's CE 421 Traffic Engineering course. Many thanks to my friends at Cal Poly for their kind hospitality and for the great opportunity to meet the excellent Poly students who are living the spirit of "learn by doing!"