what Harvard taught me, what it can teach you
Yes sir, that is my lovely lovely moleskine. Yes ma’am, that is indeed a binder-clip pen holder.
The moleskine is effortlessly classy, slightly pretentious and absolutely necessary. It keeps me sane. It gets me to do things. It makes me almost feel like a math genius — almost. (I say that because I do in fact know of two math geniuses who carry around moleskines to sketch the mathematical equivalent of doodling.)
It is a v. well-known fact that Harvard students tend to over-commit themselves to difficult classes, time consuming problem sets, sports teams, term-time jobs and leadership and axillary positions in approximately 13 extracurriculars.
While the effects of over-committing are well-documented (anxiety, stress, lack of sleep), the external effects of over-committing are often glossed over. In fact, we live in a culture that praises the nearly over-committed. We want people to work hard and long hours to achieve what they want (money, fame, success), but we don’t want them to necessarily crash and burn.
However, a population of the (nearly) over-committed isn’t quite optimal either.
What is an Ivy League School to do when it dares not offer any majors that could be of immediate practical/professional use to anyone?
What Harvard does not have as “concentrations:” advertising, public relations, political science, business, marketing, graphic design, education, so on and so on.
What is an over-achiever to do?
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