Letter from Harvard

What a place!

Yoseph had already known that Harvard University would not be your everyday run of the mill institution but still, he is awed by his first impressions of this illustrious “factory of leaders”.

Harvard University is one of the widely known universities in the world, having produced from political leaders to entrepreneurs, scientists, artists, poets, authors, and others. Many even consider it to be the best university in the world, having and producing the most Nobel Prize winners of any University and being one of the hardest universities to get into. Harvard has certainly built a good reputation and many consider it to be the best university in the world.
I am an Ethiopian given the chance to study in this unique university. Applying and getting into Harvard has been the most challenging but also the most rewarding experience I have had in recent years. On March 29th , at 2:05 a.m., when I received an email that started with, "Dear Mr. Yoseph Seyoum Ayele, I am delighted to inform you that.." my heart almost blasted and I do not recall what I did for the following 5 minutes during the most exciting time of my year. I was on top of the world, and I read the email over a dozen of times before freezing and re-thinking of what I had just read. And following two days, I received a thick FedEx package with an acceptance certificate for me to frame and a letter with a hand written note from the Dean of Admission and Financial Aid saying, "Hope you will join us". That is when I felt right on top of the galaxy and not just the world. One would ask, what is it about Harvard that could make someone, I mean thousands, go crazy about it? What does it have that other places don't have?
Just before coming to Harvard, I had made it a point to talk to as many people as I could find that are affiliated with Harvard and Harvard alumni. They all told me that I would have an experience that I will never forget. I could not understand especially when my excitement had cooled off, mainly by the hundreds of other applications forms they sent me (I thought filling forms was over after getting admission but soon to learn that admission was only the beginning of a chain of application forms). I did know it was a such unique and special place, one that has produced world leaders and has the best faculty available and too much money for its own good, and the huge list of what makes Harvard special was becoming more of a "blah blah" to me. I had discussed it with friends, people I work with, journalists, and anyone who knew I was going to Harvard. I was really itching to come and see this 'thing' I blabbered about, and when, after a 17-hour, dreadfully tiring flight, I arrived at Harvard, I fell in love with it. I was swept off my feet when I dragged my heavy suitcases into Harvard Yard, a massive area filled with gigantic and exceptionally beautiful 19th century buildings (I am now living in one of them), and yards covered with green grass and tall trees. I finally reached my new home.
I am going to be here for the next four years, and as many faculty members say, I will spend those years exchanging ideas with people from different cultures and backgrounds. This column, "Letter From Harvard" is going to be a guided journey through the eyes of an Ethiopian. With the zillions of events that are taking place here everyday, and the smart people I am meeting from literally every corner of this world, talking to professors about their upcoming books, and with the privileges to exclusive access we get to people who make history, I hope I will not run out of things to write. I will be answering the question I posed earlier, on what makes Harvard so unique, and most importantly, what can we, Ethiopians, learn from it.
P.S. Did I mention that they give full scholarships, worth over $200,000 (over 1.8 million Birr)?

Yoseph can be reached at askyoseph@gmail.com