The Harvard Red Book

I received my copy of the Harvard Red Book in the mail this week. It's my 5th year reunion this May, and for every reunion, Harvard asks alumni to update their contact information, and if you want, indulge your fellow classmates with what you've been up to since graduating.

As soon as I opened the book, I couldn't put it down, so interesting to read personal accounts of my friends and classmates. I'm sorry I didn't update more than where I'm currently living and doing. Reading the entries made me smile, I truly am so fortunate to have attended Harvard. I have made so many wonderful friendships with interesting, creative people who are all driven in their own, unique way.

I feel uplifted, and reminded that no matter what I do, as long as I continue to follow my gut, I can do whatever I want, and absolutely love it. Now that is a privilege.

Back at Harvard!

Must read blog!

Brittan Smith, Harvard long jumper extraordinaire, will be keeping a blog on gocrimson.com about her senior year on the track team. Her first entry is a must read!




Brittan's blog entry here

Great Job Becky!

Yesterday my good friend and former teammate, Becky Christensen, jumped a PR of 1.84m at the US Olympic Trials to place 11th overall!

When I saw her first jump at practice 3 years ago, I immediately told her she was going to jump 6' - no problem. Thanks for proving me right! I am so happy for you Becky, it is awesome to see you continue to improve. I can't wait to see what you are made of in another 4 years!!!

The Harvard Impact

Not the best grades, I didn't go to all the talks I wanted to, I didn't take all the classes I wanted to, I didn't talk with professors as much as I should. So what exactly did Harvard do for me?

Three things at Harvard changed my life:
1. Response Papers
2. primary research literature
3. Harvard Track and Field

Response Papers, even though I didn't particularly enjoy them at first (such an understatement), taught me that what I think about something is important, and that when you read something, you shouldn't read it trying to understand what others think is important about it, but it is okay and good to read something and figure out what you think about it. I wish someone told me that this is how to really write papers and essays in general, I think it have made my life a lot easier, it was only until senior year when I figured this gem out. So simple, yet way more than I ever understood paper writing to be. I blame my frosh/soph HS teachers for throwing really deep books at us, without any historical or literary context and making us write crappy, shallow papers on them.

Primary research literature, my two research seminars taught me to appreciate the science of how we come to know what we consider to be knowledge and truth. I learned how knowledge builds, how we can be critical of what may be "true", and how every piece of evidence base in the scientific, political, and economic world can be analyzed and controversialized because the data is not foolproof, but is instead statistics, observations, and "significantly" with a margin of uncertainty. This impacts almost every piece of fact I am faced with on a daily basis, a political poll, a new scientific article, etc.

Harvard Track and Field taught me the most important lessons: how to deal with people. As a team leader I was constantly pulled in different directions, working with coaches, teammates, friends. Trying to give sound advice, trying to get the team in a positive direction; I learned that in being a leader, even just a team captain, your morals and values can be pressured to an extent I didn't realize at the time, and that these values are really what matter most and what you should base all your actions around. It is so easy to get caught up in things, but when you stick with your values, you stay grounded, happy, and optimistic. I realized that I like being a leader, I'm not a great leader yet, but I know it's something I want to become more effective at over time.

PT Reflections

Recently I've been playing a role in collecting memories, stories, and photos that people have of Paul to make a booklet to give to people at his Memorial Service on October 6th. I think it's been helpful for me to focus on the logistical aspect of emailing people and reminding them to send something in if they would like to contribute. I just read through a bunch of the submissions I've received so far, and it got me pretty worked up. I still can't believe he's dead, he's not here, I'll never see him again, it's still so shocking to me. Reading through other people's thoughts also makes me realize that even though Paul died young, he had an AMAZING impact on a lot of incredibly gifted and talented people. Here's what I submitted for the Tribute booklet:

I can say that Paul is the one person who has genuinely opened many doors for me in life, he recruited me to THE best school in the nation, he became close friends with my family, he was a kind and good-hearted coach, and he taught me to have a deep reverence for the sport of track and field. I think the biggest impact Paul had on me was his appreciation for the complexity of people’s lives. As a coach, it’s easy to demand people to conform to your reality, your time frame, and your wants and needs, but Paul never once did this. If you had to practice at 6am, he was there, if it was important to you to take a semester abroad, he had your back, if you had trouble running intervals after a late night writing papers, he adjusted the schedule to fit your needs. It may seem simple, but what Paul did on a regular basis was profound, it allowed him to form relationships with his athletes much deeper than the regular athlete-coach relationship, and also allowed his athletes to flourish at their sport. While there are many other ways that Paul influenced me, the type of understanding, appreciation and true respect for other people that Paul had is what I hope to guide me throughout the rest of my life.