Two Years at Harvard — What Did I Really Learn?
Holiday Blog Series
Introduction.
I’m really looking forward to taking the time off and not thinking about sales for a little while. My co-founders and I deliberately decided not to work during the next two weeks because rest is important.
However, I really started enjoying blogging. It’s a fulfilling and relaxing exercise and a day from Monday to Friday without sharing some thoughts with the world just doesn’t feel right.
And, today is a big day for me. I’m leaving Boston — literally, I’m sitting at the Boston Logan International Airport while writing this — as I just completed my master’s program in public policy at Harvard University. And, I believe it might be worth reflecting on what I really learned during my time here. And, I can assure you, it won’t be a list of what classes I recommend.
Learning #1: Life Is All About Nurturing Amazing Friendships and Relationships.
What fascinated me the most about this unique experience is the people I got to know. In my opinion, Harvard is all about this. And, I’m pretty sure all the other great schools are pretty much the same.
It’s not that Harvard found a recipe to manufacture global leaders and people who change the world, but it attracts and brings them together. And through this, Harvard creates and fosters networks of people who together can do great things.
It’s a very humbling experience to come into your first semester and learn about how to approach negotiations from Ambassador Wendy Sherman who lead the conversations for the U.S. in the context of the Iran Deal. Or, sit next to somebody who has directly been working with the Secretary-General of the United Nations for three years. Or, casually have lunch with someone just to later discover that they lead protests in the Middle East with 26,000 participants.
Harvard is an environment of people with unique stories. Almost all of them care about something very particular very deeply and go very far to make their corner of the world a better place.
It’s amazing to call some of them my friends and to just be an email away from people who will surely change the world at some point in time.
But, at some time, you realize it’s not about the people at Harvard. It’s about making the choice to surround yourself with amazing people. And, you can do this everywhere. You make deliberate choices regarding whom you want to spend your time or even life with. You do this, when you join a company, when you pick a partner, when you settle with a group of friends.
You yourself have the power to design this environment. And, having been blessed with meeting amazing people, I can tell you that there is nothing more valuable than to have amazing friends who help you achieve what you care about.
Learning #2: Learn to Consider Perspectives That You Didn’t Know Existed.
While you get to know amazing people, you also get to know people that will challenge you. And, quite honestly, people that you dislike. People that annoy you. People where you think, “how in the world can you think this way?”
I, myself, certainly fall into this bucket for some people.
If you very deeply care about a topic, you automatically form strong opinions. And, if you have strong opinions, you’ll inevitably meet people who disagree with you, strongly.
But, if you can manage the discourse and if you can commit to having challenging conversations, to be proven wrong, or to be truly upset, you might set yourself up for learning that was beyond your consideration.
In retrospect, I’m equally grateful that I have gotten to know people at Harvard whom I love and whom I deeply agree with as I am that I had conversations with people whose opinions I find troublesome.
Thanks to all of you. I mean it.
So, I can only encourage everyone to have the tough conversations. To speak up, but also to swallow. To speak but also to listen. To agree and to disagree. Seek helpful and productive conflict. Do it in a respectful way but do it. It’ll help you grow.
Learning #3: Everybody’s Got Flaws. Everybody Is Wrong About Something.
And, I hope most of you know this but for those who don’t: people at Harvard are still just people. We get upset, we get things wrong. We strongly disagree and get furious. We get exhausted and misbehave. So, thinking that everything at institutions like these happens on some superhuman level is plain wrong.
I think the broader point is: in the end, people are just people. Don’t think people above you are gods or people below you are worth less than you are. Treat everybody with respect while also having the courage to challenge and help people if you think they could benefit from it.
You have your worth, just like everybody else. Remind yourself of this.
Learning #4: You Can Overcome Imposter Syndrome and Find Your Worth.
I remember that before I started my graduate studied, I hadn’t known about dual or joint degrees, and all of a sudden there were people around me who were getting an MD from Harvard and an MBA from Stanford or a PhD from Yale and Master’s of Public Policy from Harvard at the same time.
And, all of a sudden, I felt like I was worse off. I felt like I wasn’t good enough cause I was only getting a degree from Harvard. — How absurd is this thought? Please judge me; judge me hard.
But, fortunately, at some point, I realized that most people who strive for something in their lives — whether it’s graduating with a degree from Harvard, having a wonderful family, driving change in local politics, starting a business, or whatever else — they all tend to compare themselves to others based on what they lack and others have. They never flip this around.
And, this is not healthy. At least not, if you do it consistently.
And, while you get to know all these amazing people around you, you start to see that most of them struggle, that most of them constantly compare themselves to others, that most of them never feel good enough.
Realizing that this is the case at such a high level of education is eye-opening.
Before I came here, I was looking up to people who made it to Harvard. Now, Harvard became the baseline and it’s not good enough anymore. What the heck? Understanding that all of us have our own value and, most importantly, understanding that each single of us has their unique value is liberating and it helped me to overcome imposter syndrome.
If most of the people at Harvard suffer from imposter syndrome, it’s certainly silly. Be smarter than Harvard students and overcome it.
Learning #5: You’re Empowered to Do What You Believe Is Best for You (and the World).
I come from a fairly simple family background. My dad died when I was young and from there on it was only my mum and me. And, my mum did everything for me. Although we didn’t have a lot, I never felt like I was lacking anything.
Everything was always about honest work, not dreaming too big, being helpful to others. It has always been about not expecting too much but also not accepting too little.
So, when I wanted to pursue a career in the arts after graduating from high school, my mum never actively discouraged me from it but it was clear that she preferred that I did something substantial, something safe, something that’ll ensure that I won’t ever have to struggle.
So, when it was time to decide what to do with my life, I decided to study chemistry and business at a local university in Germany.
I was lucky enough to secure a scholarship. To keep the scholarship, I needed to keep my grades up and follow more substantial extracurricular commitments.
And, I found it rather hard. Not because it was a lot to do. No, mostly, because people around me didn’t understand why I was putting in the extra effort. Mostly, because people didn’t wanna have conversations about dreaming big and doing greater things. Everybody was pretty content where they were, which I never judged. But, I also never really felt like I could speak openly about what I cared about and who I wanted to be.
And, this is completely different at Harvard.
At places like Harvard, no matter what you wanna do, people immediately believe in you. When you say you want to start a company, they ask you questions about it and connect you to people with similar interests. When you say you wanna pursue acting, people admire your courage and encourage you to go to auditions. When you want to become a mayor or even president, people start helping you to plan your campaigns.
For me personally, Harvard has been liberating. I found the courage to say things like:
- I’m an entrepreneur. I did start a company. It’s okay to take the risk. And, I wanna keep taking this risk. I wanna change the world in some way.
- I’m a blogger. I write almost every day and share it with the world. And people find it valuable.
- I’m a negotiations expert. I studied it for two years and I know the fundamentals very well. I even coached people in it who found my coaching very valuable.
- I struggle with math. But, that’s okay. I excel at soft skills and they’re valuable, too. Very valuable.
- I’m an artist. I spend a significant amount of time in the arts and do directing and acting projects.
Before my Harvard experience, I’d have been afraid to say most of these things although, I always wanted to say them. Now, I write them down and share them with the internet.
And, I came to believe that you can only truly excel in the things that you really want to do. The things that you have an intrinsic drive for. And, Harvard helped me to find the courage to focus on those things without feeling ashamed for some stupid reasons.
But, the lesson here is not that you can only do this at Harvard. The lesson here is that you shouldn’t need to go to Harvard to make this realization. If you can afford it — and really think about this — make the changes in your life that will serve you best. Only if you’re the best version of yourself you can deliver the greatest value to the world.
Conclusion
I’m sure that this article is incomplete and I’ll certainly want to add or change things the moment I publish it.
But, overall I know that the experience was worth it, for me.
Graduate degrees at Harvard (besides PhDs and MScs) are not about grades or academic excellence. In fact, I remember the moment vividly when one of my professors said: “Everyone here who cares about their grades too much is either wasting their or their sponsor’s money.”
They’re about personal development and challenging who you are. They’re about finding out who you want to be and embracing that person. They’re about making friends who will follow you through your entire life and who will help you become the changemaker you want to be.
They’re for you.
About the Author.
Teddy Lange is a co-founder at Resonaid and is responsible for business development and customer experience. Before joining Resonaid, he’s been a Sales Rep and Junior Sales Manager, and co-founded various companies. He has just finished his graduate degree in Public Policy with a focus on communication at Harvard University. Feel free to reach out to him at teddy@resonaid.co.
