This semester marks my entry into the second half of my Harvard College journey.
That fact has slowly sunk in over these past couple of months, and as a result, I found myself reflecting more and more about my time at Harvard so far and what I hope to gain out of my remaining two years here. Looking back at my Harvard experience, I realized that some of my most memorable moments have also been some of my most spontaneous. When I hear about an event that sounds interesting and I have some free time to attend, I always ask myself, “Why not?”, even when the event is not related to anything I’m currently involved in. I have not regretted my decisions to attend these events once because these events are what makes going to school at Harvard such a unique experience. There’s also the added bonus that they make good stories to tell family and friends back home over Thanksgiving.
The Yard looks beautiful in the fall!
At Harvard, there’s always something awesome happening on campus, whether it’s as bizarre as a prime minister of a foreign country visiting the John F. Kennedy Forum or as spectacular as a student arts performance. Contrary to what some of you may believe, Harvard students do not spend all of their time studying in the library. There are many opportunities across Harvard’s schools and organizations to explore new interests and topics that may not be offered in a college class. To give you a snapshot of the amazing events that occur on campus, here is a brief recap of some events I attended these past couple of weeks:
A few weeks ago, I headed over to the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) to attend one of their AskWith Forum panels. The topic for that Forum was “Leading the Global Education Movement: Advancing Educational Opportunity Around the World”, featuring HGSE alumni speakers who currently work in education at organizations like the World Bank and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Since I’m currently planning a conference centered around the topic of global education for the Harvard College in Asia Program (one of my favorite student organizations on campus!), I wanted to get inspiration for the conference from the speakers and hear about their perspectives on what they think are the most pressing matters facing the global education movement today. The speakers were phenomenal, talking about their visions for a 21st century global education that would prepare students for the future.
Panel of speakers on the global education movement at HGSE!
Later that week, I went to my first ever student theater performance on campus, which was a student production of the Broadway musical, “Chicago”. I’m a bit embarrassed to say that while I’m a Chicago native, I’ve actually never seen the musical before. Needless to say, I was super excited to see it for the first time, especially since it was performed and directed by some of my very talented friends. Throughout the show, I was on the edge of my seat, held in suspense by what was to come next. I laughed at the preposterous plot twists and marveled at the immense talent of my classmates. I wouldn’t be surprised if one (or many) of them ended up in Broadway after college.
The Chicago playbill!
I also spontaneously decided to go to a special guest event hosted by the Harvard College Electronic Music Collective, featuring the electronic dance music artist, Ekali. The event was open to non-Harvard students as well, so the room was packed with student music producers and EDM enthusiasts from around the Boston area. It was a really cool event because I’ve always been an ardent EDM fan, and I’m very curious about music production. What better way to learn about it than from an acclaimed artist himself? He not only talked about the tricks he used to make his music more organic-sounding, but also about how the journey to stardom is not as glamorous as it looks, especially at the beginning. I would never have imagined two years ago that I would attend a lecture by an EDM artist on Harvard’s campus, which again drives home the point that these eclectic events are just part of what makes Harvard such a unique learning experience.
Ekali and his manager talking about life in the music industry
These three events are just a few of the many awesome events that I have spontaneously decided to check out this semester. There is never a shortage of cool things to do on campus. In fact, I often find myself wishing that I had more free time to attend even more of them. I’m already excited to see what will be happening on campus in the future. Who knows what serendipities the next semester will bring?
