Let’s go back to the time when just being at Harvard was the dream

I sit at my computer looking at one of Harvard’s weather updates and get a little excited that maybe, just maybe, I’ll be saved from having to go to class tomorrow.

I’ve been exhausted since the past week and spent most of my weekend working. At this point, in one way or another, I’m a little burnt out.

But what happened to the girl this past semester that put her physical and mental health before her grades? What happened to the positive mind I had? What happened to the spark I felt on even some of the harshest days?

And as I so often do when contemplating my life, I took a tiny step back. And what I realized was that worst comes to worst, tomorrow I’m still getting a Harvard education.

That was the quintessential #firstworldproblem.

And I’ll be completely honest, when I later did find out one of my classes was cancelled, my heart couldn’t help itself but leap with sudden pang of excitement and then relief. And you know what, fine, I also except that I’m perfectly human and allowed to be lazy and on most days, leisure doesn’t sound like a bad idea.

But that also draws me further to my point. I’m not asking myself to be an irregular human being. I’m not telling myself that it isn’t OK to be excited about taking a mental health day (those are pretty important actually).

What I am doing is asking myself to sometimes be a little more thoughtful in how I choose to value my present-day life. Here I was complaining about the fact that I’m getting a world class education. And here we all are, at times, complaining about the next p-set or essay or midterm or response paper, when to most the thought of doing that at Harvard was once our greatest dream.

I don’t mean to suggest that the name Harvard is supposed to relieve us of the weight of carrying that name, or that college won’t be difficult, or that there aren’t mental health issues on campus. Everyone carries some sort of cross, and the feeling that there are other people in this world with – perhaps – more legitimate problems than reading a 100-page novel due the next day doesn’t seem to help very much when we’re set on wallowing in a bit of self pity. But I don’t think those should be excuses to take this place for granted.

Let’s make it a point to return to those days when the thought of being in the presence of these brick libraries made us tingle with insurmountable excitement. Let’s make a conscious effort to let positivity permeate our lives. Let’s remember to be thankful for being at a place like this. I think all of us that are here deserve to have gotten in, but so did a couple thousand others who could just as well be here and, somehow, aren’t.

Sometimes it’s perfectly OK to go through a rough patch. We all do. I did last week. But learning to change your mental paradigm when things don’t go your way changes your life. Take a moment to be grateful today, no matter how the rest of your day was colored, and to be genuinely appreciative for the chance you have to be within these gates.

You’re one of the few. Don’t take that lightly.