On the Burden of Graduating from Harvard

Brittany and I recently went to Boston and Cambridge.

Walking around Harvard made me really miss college. I forget how great Harvard is and I feel like an idiot for having taken it for granted. It also made me feel a bit unaccomplished. Graduating from Harvard comes with the burden of doing something significant... One is supposed to be great, be wealthy, change the world.

I have not done anything of the sort. I don't even know what it is exactly that I want to do in the long term. I finished the first year of law school and hated it. I've been working for three years at the same firm. I'm contemplating the idea of returning to school - possibly an MBA or a PhD. in History.

Going to a school like Harvard makes me feel intelligent, but at the same time, makes me feel unintelligent since there are so many other people who are infinitely more intelligent than I.

But then, I think that at which one is meant to be great has really been narrowed down... a lot of people end up doing law school or business school, something far from revolutionary. I also think that up to this point in my life, I have been relatively happy. I have received and given a good amount of love. And although I am far from a saint, I have been a good person.

I think that is good enough for now.

Edit: I can also say that I dropped out of law school at the best possible time and avoided the extra expenses and debt. Finally, I have been quite lucky and have been able to pay down a good portion of my debt. Sadly, it seems that expectations have been lowered for people in my age bracket... no more high rolling for us and now just having a stable jobs is a luxury.