The Unspoken Reality Behind the Harvard Gates | Alex Chang | TEDxYouth@SHSID

[shnuggle]

My fav quote: "Don't let school ruin your education".

[matthewgoldfarb]

The worst is when your friends find success while you’re still looking and you feel less superior, it hurts man!

[manorotti]

I can feel his stress through the screen

[Winston_Nelson]

50 cent:” i didn’t study at harvard, but my employees did.”
Think about it.

[zadtrax]

I’ve met quite a number of people who attended prestigious colleges who still have no StreetSmarts or any common sense. Book learning only gets you so far in life.

[jessequest]

The best thing at Harvard is that library.

[Londonergeek]

I graduated from Oxford university in 2005 and can relate to this video. I graduated top of my class in high school, but when you reach a top university you are all of a sudden surrounded by super high achievers which can be a bit demoralising. Several students (10-15%) in my year dropped out as well as they couldn’t cope with the intensity. Plus the worst part is having to spend evenings/weekends writing out application forms for summer internships/ jobs. Looking back, I’m still pleased to have gone to Oxford but I know it’s not for everyone.

[norasaltonstall]

Me: I really want to go to Harvard!
*watches this video*
Me: actually I will just stick to just walking around the campus.

[emmaleewilson]

I went to a small college, but even I dealt with some of the stresses discussed in this video

[idadayah]

Once you go to a place where competition is everything, it's either you win or you lose. If you win then congratulations, you will be very comfortable throughout your years in college life. That means you have established your identity which people could look up on to. If you lose, things began to crumble since you will be living in a place where you dont have an idendity as an introduction of yourself. Let say when school needs a singer for an event, and people already know oh you could ask somebody somebody and it was not you. Even if you wanna try it might be too late by then only miracle at this point could help you since you have missed up the first chance. You dont have your own name in things and slowly you began to doubt yourself, insecurities eat you up slowly, then in the end you lose yourself. Some even thought they could never succeed or wake up ever again from that nightmare because it was too late by then. This is simply beacuse you can no longer be the ebst and comfortable with yourself. I truly agreed with everything that he said. It was painful, it was unbearable but when you realised it, you can't never go back to how you was before and ceryaunly you cant no longer live in your present.

[hauweii]

high schoolers watching this! despite what this man says, he is most definitely Harvard material. i don’t know why he’s saying he isn’t, likely thinks that way after being surrounded by more accomplished students at Harvard. college applications are far different now, more holistic, with many valedictorians and salutatorians getting rejected. i’m at columbia, have tons of friends at harvard, and i can attest that even this man had a more impressive application than a lot of my friends here. college admissions is vastly different than it was in 2017, especially with the impact of covid. don’t let his high stats and ECs deter you. apply, make yourself seem super passionate about your major with even just a couple ECs that back it up and an essay to complement it, and your chances are better. obviously strive to get the best grades possible, but my friends who had 3.5 gpas got into ivies after their passion shined through their apps (and come from average family backgrounds as well). you got it.

[hanji]

And here I am studying one day before exam 😂

[cassydi]

I don't even attend such an important college but I still complain every day about my university.

[godSPARDA]

Harvard was 4 tough years
One commited suicide
50% show signs of depression.
We talking about college or prison??😅

[slbellue]

I think all colleges should run like Ivy League schools, in how important learning is & the distinction. Harvard & those type of schools are for the wealthy. Why are the wealthy considered important, but the rest of the world, who are not, considered less important?
I was struggling in a college class, tried every avenue for help, finally went to the professor. He told me I wasn't worth sacrificing the rest of the students. All I wanted was help.

[ChristopherToro]

*There's Hard Mode, then there's Harvard Mode.*

[vksarkisyan]

Had a nearly identical experience in a similar to Harvard institution and looking back I’m amazed how I survived with a ‘fight or flight’ mental setting, extreme, unrealistic expectations and all other symptoms mentioned by him, for years and years and now I realize how we as teens and young adults are simply exploited with the these psychological tools used in the hustle culture and unhealthy competition and etc. We are so corrupt and each and every demographic suffers in one or another way. Even if you are a ‘gifted kid’, you are not privileged, you will suffer but in a more creative way

[LagunaLeonhart]

The traditional education system is flawed. Everyone is different. I myself went from being in one of the worst schools in the country, to one of the best colleges (with low grades), to a sub-par university, and then to a great career. Anybody can make it regardless of your education. Sure, an education can open a door to something better or more senior, faster, but it doesn't guarantee anything. Finding good oppertunities where you can grow as a person is far more important to your success than landing in a great school.

[trueatfalse]

After listening to this speech, I think that at Harvard they should start to focus more on teamwork and how to help instead beat each other. Maybe all those inhumane enterprises led by their greedy CEOs would not put our hole society, planet and everything at risk just to win some game.

[justfine]

If he wouldn't have been Harvard material they wouldn't had accepted him. That CV is beyond any average student could have.