Mike PosnerCollege is tough -- even tougher when you're trying to launch a music career. Yet Mike Posner makes it look easy. Just a few short months after his graduation from Duke University, Posner is heating up the pop charts with his debut album '31 Seconds To Takeoff.'

PopEater recently sat down with the rising star -- whose 'Cooler Than Me' single remains firmly embedded in Billboard's Top Ten -- and we discovered there were moments when the Michigan-born singer almost threw in the towel. But Posner says he owed it to his parents to finish -- not because they didn't get to attend university themselves, but rather because they both hold degrees. "I think that's why it meant so much to them that I finish."

Luckily, he managed to complete his sociology degree without falling into any post-secondary stereotypes. How did he avoid it?