Get Off Track

Dear Classes of 2020 and 2021,

Now is the time to think outside the traditional set of jobs in finance and consulting in New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. Be a big fish in a small pond. While you may have been one of thousands of Ivy League grads to end up in New York, you may be one of the only ones in your hometown (or wherever you're waiting out quarantine). You'll get more responsibility earlier and thus build life skills faster. Find the most accomplished person around you and become his or her assistant. It's a great way to understand how a successful senior person (in whatever field) works so that you can become one yourself sooner than later.

As soon as you can, travel. Don't spend a lot of money. Stay in hostels or couch-surf. Spend time with people who don't have a lot. After four years (or 3.75) in a stupidly rich place like Harvard, you need to understand how other parts of the world live. Travel will show you how much abundance you've been treated to, and you'll need less therapy later in life.

Invest, don't buy. You don't need most of the things you think you do in your early 20s. If you are lucky enough to have a job, pay off your debt then buy stock or invest in your education.

But don't go to grad school unless you're completely certain you want to be a lawyer, doctor, or academic. It might be tempting to avoid reality for the next few years by earning another degree. Don't spend $150,000-plus and two-plus years getting a diploma in a field you're not sure you like. You already have an A.B. from Harvard that will open most doors. Get a job where you build the skills you would have learned in grad school but are getting paid instead of racking up more debt. Invest in courses or certifications for specific skills where there's a reasonable expectation you'll see a return on investment (coding, nursing, etc.). Don't buy courses in creative writing, cooking, or music. Don't go to grad school in the arts unless you get into the very best program in the world for your passion and/or you get a scholarship.

Be generous with your time, but not your money. If you're lucky enough to have a lot of the latter, hold onto it for now. You don't have enough experience to spend it wisely yet. See earlier point on investing. As for your time: volunteer, go on adventures, don't be afraid to fall “off the career track” for a few years, as long as you're not accumulating too much debt. As you age, you'll have less time to learn and more obligation to earn. Seek out mentors and let them treat you to lunch. By your 30s, you should be buying the recent grads lunch (and donating to charities and political campaigns…) But for now, it's ok to focus on you.

Gillian E. Morris ’09 was a Government concentrator in Lowell House.

This piece is part of a series of letters written by members of the Harvard College Class of 2009.