What do you need to succeed in college?

[T]he students who persisted in college were not necessarily the ones who had excelled academically . . . they were the ones with exceptional character strengths, like optimism and persistence and social intelligence . . .

They were the ones who were able to recover from a bad grade and resolve to do better next time; to bounce back from a fight with their parents; to resist the urge to go out to the movies and stay home and study instead; to persuade professors to give them extra help after class. Those skills weren’t enough on their own to earn students a B.A., Levin knew. But for young people without the benefit of a lot of family resources, without the kind of safety net that their wealthier peers enjoyed, they seemed an indispensable part of making it to graduation day.

(From the NYT Magazine). Vey interesting. 

But then, where do we learn character? Can character be taught?