what Harvard taught me, what it can teach you
Maybe you were like me, maybe not, but I always thought that working abroad right after graduation in a foreign country (I’m an American) would be fantastic. It’d be a thrill ride, and be totally awesome.
However, after a set of informational interviews in Shanghai, I started to realize that jump starting your career in a foreign country isn’t as easy as OCS makes it seem.
The language barrier can be a total opportunity killer.
It’s that time of the year again. Now that you’ve written your Annual Review, it’s time to bundle your thoughts together and look forward to the new year.
Chances are, you know how to make a standard list, and may or may not have accomplished them (provided that you even remember your list).
I’m not going to try to reinvent the wheel, but instead point out some new ways of writing our that set of “resolutions” and strongly suggesting resolutions that should make it to your list this year.
If you’re looking for a new take on the New Year’s Resolutions list, this is the post for you.
Coming back from Thanksgiving break can be a bit of a shocker. Turkey break is a wonderful time to chill out, eat food, ignore homework etc. etc., but getting back onto campus can be painful especially if you’re facing a mountain of work.
Somehow, this is one of the few times, I’ve managed to come back from break without actually facing a mountain of midterms / papers / psets / blahblah. I’ve discovered, funny enough, that Harvard is a fantastic place to be when you’re not stressed out.
There are interesting people about, good conversations to be had, fun events to go to, lots of ways to amuse yourself. But when you’re stressed, Harvard just seems like a dreary place.
If Harvard is lame, it’s because you’re making it that way.
Comping is truly a unique Harvard experience. You take a bunch of smart kids and make them jump through some hoops of various difficulty to even be allowed to privilege of joining a given student organization.
Some comps are formalities, others are grueling. Some will require perhaps an hour out of your time each week, others will demand a certain single minded devotion. Some comps will cut people, maybe half-way through, maybe even at the end of a long and tiring semester. Other comp directors will turn a blind eye if you’re enthusiastic enough.
Here’s the dirty on surviving this uniquely Harvard “comping” process.
Recent Posts
Commentary: Brain Gain: The underground world of “neuroenhancing” drugs
Tags: Commentary, culture, drugs, Harvard, over-commitment, priorities
The New Yorker’s Brain Gain: The underground world of “neuroenhancing” drugs
Seriously? As an “efficiency-obsessed” Harvard student, I absolutely understand the appeal of such mental steroids. Imagine, all the wonderful/crazy/exciting/amazing things I could do if my brain could focus a little bit better, for longer periods of time, if I didn’t need sleep, if I never wearied from writing that damn response paper.
However, if you need a drug to help you keep on top of things, I feel like that’s a sign that something is amiss in your life, that you haven’t examined your priorities, that you really don’t know what you want out of life.
It’s incredibly easy as a Harvard student to just want EVERYTHING. But, that’s just a sign of not actually wanting anything.
Your thoughts?
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