[MUSIC PLAYING]
JULIUS WADE: I
think what Harvard
is really skilled at is
bringing people together.
CAT ZHANG: I have definitely
learned a lot about how
to be a person in the world.
There is like this infinite
sense of possibility.
MADELEINE LAPUERTA: Being
surrounded by all these people
that are pushing
themselves inspires
me to then push myself.
STUDENT: One, two, three!
TEAM: RVL!
BRAEDEN FOLDENAUER:
Pretty much everybody
I know is pursuing what they're
pursuing because they desire
to have an impact.
ELSIE M. SUNDERLAND: They're
on this mission of discovery
of really their
own passion and how
to be an engaged
citizen in society.
LINDEY KNEIB: When you're
here, you're here for a reason.
Just hold on for the
ride, because it's
fun and wild and crazy.
[CHEERING]
ROBERT REID-PHARR: Can you
read that last sentence for us?
STUDENT: Yeah.
"No one, I read somewhere
a long time ago,
makes his escape
personality black."
ROBERT REID-PHARR:
That's amazing.
I mean, that's a
stunning sentence.
STUDENT: Yeah.
ROBERT REID-PHARR: Can
I ask you, is that true?
Hold on one second.
Is that true?
STUDENT: I think it is.
ROBERT REID-PHARR: Why?
CLAUDINE GAY:
What's so wonderful
about a liberal
arts education is
that it's powered by
a commitment to truth.
LAWRENCE S. BACOW:
Truth is something
which needs to be discovered.
It needs to be uncovered.
STUDENT: You want it
to be true, so you're
willing to suspend your belief.
ROBERT REID-PHARR: Everybody
is on board with this--
that she's right about this.
What do you think?
RAKESH KHURANA: We
really hope that students
learn to have an
inquiring mind, to always
be asking questions and
actually question authority.
STUDENT: It's useful
in relation to some
of the things that have been
missing from the other texts
that we've read.
ROBERT REID-PHARR: What's been
missing from the other texts
that we've read?
STUDENT: [LAUGHS]
A lot of has been missing
from the texts that we--
[LAUGHS] --that we've read.
ROBERT REID-PHARR: You're
in the classroom learning
from students in ways
that's just shocking.
It's just shocking.
Because they're
asking questions that
are so practical
and so concerned
with how it is that they're
going to take charge.
CAT ZHANG: I went to a
large public high school.
My graduating class was I
think the largest in America.
And so I wanted to be part
of a concentration that
was more intimate but
also offered a lot of room
for skepticism.
BRAEDEN FOLDENAUER: My
favorite class so far
was taking my freshman seminar.
You know, we would do
a bunch of readings.
And we'd talk about some
kind of free speech topic.
And then we would show
up to class every week.
And we would just
argue with each other.
I craved that challenge.
And I think that it was
also really valuable,
because it forced me to step
outside my comfort zone.
JU YON KIM: One great thing
about the liberal arts
is that it really kind of
opens the world in new ways.
They want the students to begin
questioning certain assumptions
that they might have.
[BLOW HORN SOUND]
ERIC HELLER: If you can
figure out why that happens,
you'll beat me by about a
year after I first saw this.
JULIUS WADE: One
thing that I cherish
about Harvard is that
every person I've met
is like curious in some
way about themselves
or about the world
or about each other.
CAT ZHANG: I just found
people like really interesting
and funny and unique
in their own way.
And I think it
made me feel like I
didn't have to be the person
that I was in high school.
MADELEINE LAPUERTA: You
know, three years ago,
would I imagine myself
studying computer science?
Probably not.
And so I think just the way
that Harvard has kind of
shaped me says a lot about
how this environment promotes
growth.
JULIUS WADE: All of
that does nothing
to band-aid the
simple fact that there
comes a time when the world
stops rewarding potential.
STUDENT: I think the
first way you read it
was like the other way around.
JULIUS WADE: Yeah.
I came here without
a clue about what
I wanted to do, no idea
that I wanted to do theater.
And I just did it.
That made me very proud.
But also, it was like
really terrifying.
STUDENT: So it's-- oh yeah,
so it's like the first one
counterclockwise.
[VOCALIZING]
Yeah.
BRAEDEN FOLDENAUER:
Coming to Harvard
was terrifying, especially
being the first my family
to go to college and stuff.
I was definitely in
uncharted territory.
JULIUS WADE: The fear that
I think a lot of people
that I felt coming
in, it's like a fear
that you're the only
one that feels that way.
And when you discover
that like, well,
that person feels that
way too, and that person,
and this person, this
like whole club of people,
there's a strange solace.
(SINGING)
RAKESH KHURANA: We recognize
that talent is everywhere.
There's nobody here who
doesn't deserve to be here.
BRAEDEN FOLDENAUER: When
I was applying to college,
cost was really crucial for me.
One of the things that I
discovered when applying
is just how generous
Harvard's financial aid is.
JULIUS WADE: The
thing that I tell
people who have insecurities
about their backgrounds
and stuff, was that none
of that stuff matters.
The only thing
that really matters
is like who you are and the kind
of person that you want to be.
(SINGING) [VOCALIZING]
My kind of love.
STUDENT: Hey, nice run through.
[LAUGHTER]
STUDENTS: One, two, three!
(SINGING) OH LEV, OH
LEV, OH LEV, OH LEV!
RAKESH KHURANA: We want
the place to feel alive.
JULIUS WADE: Aah!
LINDEY KNEIB: (SINGING) I'm so
excited for Harvard and Yale.
FOOTBALL PLAYERS:
One, two, three, CRIM!
[CHEERING]
CLAUDINE GAY:
There is no one way
to characterize
the community here,
because there are
so many communities.
STUDENT: Yo, Siva, can we get
some real South-Asian music?
[CHEERING]
CLAUDINE GAY: What's
common to all of them
is how incredibly
vibrant they are.
LINDEY KNEIB: I love working
with the Special Olympics.
Coming here, I feel that
I've received so much.
It's just that sense
of giving back.
STUDENT: Let's do
some fractions.
MADELEINE LAPUERTA: Being
a woman in computer science
is actually pretty awesome.
You're setting a huge
example for girls
that they can do this,
because you're doing this.
ELSIE M. SUNDERLAND: It's
very important for young women
to be able to identify
women who are in positions
that they might
aspire to someday.
LAWRENCE S. BACOW: When
we recruit great faculty,
we offer them the opportunity
to work with great students.
When we recruit
great students, we
offer them the opportunity
to work with great faculty.
They love each other.
DUSTIN TINGLEY:
I came to Harvard
to be in an environment that
emphasized the liberal arts
but also was a major
research institution.
I get so excited when
I work with a student
all the way up to
a point where it
becomes really
clear I need to be
co-authoring with this person.
JU YON KIM: And they're
actually doing what we're doing.
And by the time
they get to the end
of their project,
what they have is
a real intellectual
contribution.
CLAUDINE GAY: We tend
to attract students
who already see themselves as
agents of change in the world.
STAFF SERGEANT:
Good afternoon, sir.
SECOND LIEUTENANT: Good
afternoon, staff sergeant.
ROBERT REID-PHARR: You have to
rethink how you are actually
helping to educate them for
what it is that they want
and what it is that
we need as a culture.
BRAEDEN FOLDENAUER: We've
got our different goals
in different parts of the world.
And we can all take
what we have experienced
and bring those back to
our home communities.
MADELEINE LAPUERTA:
You're learning so much
from the people around you.
It's an environment of
always being able to learn
and from that always
being able to grow.
LINDEY KNEIB: My biggest
accomplishment here
is I finally figured
out who I was.
JULIUS WADE:
Harvard cares deeply
about who we are as
people and the capacity
that we have as human beings to
affect a new and better world.
CAT ZHANG: I feel
like my life coheres
more, that I have like a very
clear purpose and mission,
in a way that wasn't apparent
to me when I was in high school.
RAKESH KHURANA: One of the most
gratifying things in my life
is to be able to be around
these amazing young people, who
are idealistic, who have
a strong sense of urgency
of making a difference
in the world.
Every day, my heart is
renewed with a sense
of possibility and hope.
Because each day,
in my job, I get
to look into the
eyes of the future.
