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Re: Janitors, McDonald's and Harvard

 

Harvard definitely has name recognition, but I think it also has prestige; I haven¡¯t googled it, but perhaps it is the oldest Ivy League school, and so perhaps as such?claims?the *most* prestige and therefore placement in the folklore of where you get to go if you work hardest??

So, maybe it¡¯s?Harvard because it is viewed as ¡°the best,¡± and it actually may be ¡°the best¡± at *some* thing or ¡°was¡± at *some*?point in time, but certainly not universally the best for everyone, for *every* thing.?

I had a cousin who wanted to go to Yale, which also, I think, has claims to some prestige. Her high school guidance counselor advised her not to apply because there was ¡°no chance.¡± Of course she didn¡¯t listen, and she not only applied but received a scholarship.?

I also have a McDonald¡¯s story:?my husband, a?¡°good¡±?student,?worked at McDonald¡¯s in college. He was demoted,?more than once,?as he couldn¡¯t handle the workload / pace / keep up, and ultimately quit?vs being fired or let go.?Guess it¡¯s good he continued his education and got a degree since he *couldn¡¯t* make it?at McDonald¡¯s.?

P.S.?As for the number of times Harvard is mentioned being ¡°too numerous,¡± it is .0008 percent of total?posts (based on the numbers provided), which seems maybe?not really numerous at all mathematically.?But, I guess we need a benchmark,?say?the number of times any other / all other?college(s)?is(are)?mentioned by name... and, I guess the number has gone up very marginally now, by mentioning it again in this post. I guess I could have said ¡°the college that must not be named¡± and not jerked the numbers.?

On Wednesday, December 16, 2020, 7:26 PM, Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:

When I was a kid in school in the 1960s, the threat was "Study, or you'll have to be a janitor."

Last I knew in American schools (maybe further out) it had morphed, by the 1990s, into "If you don't do well in school, you'll have to work at McDonald's.

?

If that was the stick, then the carrot was "If you study hard you can go to Harvard."? I KNOW that offer (made by people who had no power over the admission process at Harvard) was and still is made to kids in LOTS of countries.??

I was going to ask the group "Why Harvard?"? Is it just easy to say and remember, compared to other universities? So I guess it is a serious question. :-)??

I did a search in this group, and there are 63 posts that mention Harvard.? Some of those might be a quote from another post, but still.... that's a lot.? There are 78,687 messages, counting this one.? Still, given the topic, I think mentions of Harvard are too numerous.

/g/AlwaysLearning/search?q=harvard

I have another kind of question, about the size of the world, and of Harvard, but I'll ask it in a comment.

?

Sandra
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