What I Learned About Life at My 30th College Reunion

What I Learned About Life at My 30th College(ˈkälij) Reunion(rēˈyo͞onyən)

“Every classmate who became a teacher or doctor seemed happy,” and 29 other lessons from seeing my Harvard class of 1988 all grown up

By Deborah(ˈdeb(ə)rə) Copaken(käpēkən)

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No one’s life turned out exactly as anticipated(anˈtisəˌpāt), not even for the most ardent(ˈärdnt) planner(ˈplanər).

Every classmate who became a teacher or doctor seemed happy with the choice of career(kəˈri(ə)r).

Many lawyers seemed either unhappy or itching(iCH) for a change, with the exception of those who became law professors. (See No. 2 above.)

Nearly every single banker or fund manager(ˈmanijər) wanted to find a way to use accrued(əˈkro͞o) wealth to give back (some had concrete(ˈkänˌkrēt, ˌkänˈkrēt) plans, some didn’t), and many, at this point, seemed to want to leave Wall Street as soon as possible to take up some sort of art.

Speaking of art, those who went into it as a career were mostly happy and often successful, but they had all, in some way, struggled(ˈstrəgəl) financially(fəˈnan(t)SH(ə)lē, fīˈnan(t)SH(ə)lē).

They say money can’t buy happiness, but in an online survey(sərˈvā) of our class just prior(ˈprīər) to the reunion, those of us with more of it self-reported a higher level of happiness than those with less.

Our strongest desire, in that same pre-reunion class survey—over more sex(seks) and more money—was to get more sleep.

“Burning Down the House,” our class’s favorite song, by the Talking Heads, is still as good and as relevant(ˈreləvənt) in 2018 as it was blasting(blast) out of our freshman(ˈfreSHmən) dorms(dôrm).

Many of our class’s shyest(SHī) freshmen have now become our alumni(əˈləmnəs) class leaders, helping to organize this reunion and others.

Those who chose to get divorced(dəˈvôrs) seemed happier, post-divorce.

Those who got an unwanted divorce seemed unhappier, post-divorce.

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https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/10/what-my-harvard-college-reunion-taught-me-about-life/573847/