The Boston Experience on February 26 was an exquisite expedition for students, like myself, who had never been to Cambridge, MA, and I’m glad to be part of it. This event featured seven institutions – Tufts University, Boston University, Suffolk University, Northeastern University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, and Bentley University – that students could opt to visit. My designated group and I visited Harvard University, which I have no regret since I got to sit in one of the class and got to meet Professor Steven C. Caton, who teaches Social Anthropology at Harvard.

 

Professor Caton, an anthropologist with a focus on the Middle East dialect poetry as a form of political rhetoric in tribal Yemen, took Michael Jefferson, Raven Gomez, and me under his wing without any second of hesitation. In a way, he provided us with a sense of acceptance, as if we were indeed one of his Harvard students. Throughout the class, for example, he made eye contact with us; it seemed that he wanted us to contribute to his class discussion, but given the allotted time of the class--coupled with Caton’s appealing lecture about poetry as a form of communication, the distinct ways historians and anthropologists date events, the differences between Epistemological reasoning and Ontological reasoning, and the resonant occurrences of events and how they take place--we decided it was best to ask questions after class.

 

Professor Caton, intrigued by our questions and our visit, stayed thirty minutes after class to answer questions, give us tips about Harvard, and applaud us for our thoughtful questions, which he said was more deliberate than his current students. He then proceeded to offer us a personal tour around Harvard University’s campus, introducing us to the three famous museums: Harvard Art Museums, Harvard Museum of Natural History, and Harvard Museums of Science and Culture, all situated at the eastern end of campus. And finally Michael, Raven and I get to dine with him at Sackler Museum of Architecture, which was awesome.  We took photos with him as well.

 

Even then, while attending the class, one aspect I found pretty astonishing is the fact that majority of the students in the Social Anthropology didn’t really contributed to the discussion, let alone know the answer to questions posed by the professor. This altered my perception about Ivy League and tier 1 institutions. For instance, during the after class discussion, Professor Caton told me, “if you wish to actually learn, then Harvard is not for you. Harvard is usually for graduate or professional students who are only here for degree advancement.”  This is something I didn’t anticipated because when I was in high school, I thought Ivy leagues institution are exclusively for individuals who are extravagantly intelligent in term of academia. But throughout my academic career and classes I had taken at Brown University, Syracuse University, Baruch College, and Hunter College, and now Harvard University, I frankly don’t find any of those schools superior or inferior to one another. In fact, I found the students at Harvard University to be typical students as any other university and college. In addition, I find graduate students at Harvard University no different than LaGuardia students, but the undergrad students, on the other hand, are definitely intelligent, and the projects they do fascinate me. For instance, while taking the photos near the John Harvard Statue, I met two Harvard undergrads majoring in computer sciences who are investing time in creating a Harvard tour App designed for tourists, and which has a pop-up screen that displays the location on campus and can identify the name of Harvard’s facilities when a user points the phone at them. This is a project I would love to participate in.

 

Ultimately, my advice for future perspective students is that if they can afford the cost of attending Harvard University, they should definitely matriculate. However, from my own perspective, I don’t find Harvard University, education-wise, to the best institution in terms of career acquisition, despite what polls and US News ranking assert otherwise – though having Harvard University printed on your resume and diploma do look astounding to employers. So, be certain you know what you want to peruse and aspire to before choosing your colleges/universities. After all, I have to admit Harvard University’s professors are top notch professionals in their field of studies, but the students not so much, especially graduate students who are extremely arrogant.