Small Fish in a Big Pond

The main reason I opted for a traditional liberal arts education over a design school education was because in my research on the fashion industry in high school, I learned that most of my favorite designers had failed on the business side of things despite being critical successes. Marc Jacobs, John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Isaac Mizrahi -- all had encountered financial problems at one point or another, usually more than once. Before passing up all other options, I wanted to make sure that 1) I definitely wanted to do fashion, even if it meant almost certain failure and 2) I tried to understand the business side of things and what I would be getting into. I also wanted to have a backup plan.

Once I entered college, though, I was a bit at a loss as to how I would figure this all out. Harvard prides itself in not being a technical school, so I couldn't study pure business or fashion. The closest "concentrations" (Harvard-speak for majors) were Economics and Visual and Environmental Studies (Harvard-speak for fine art). At first I thought I could maybe do a joint concentration with these two subjects but I ran into a couple of barries.

Firstly, the Economics department haughtily informed me that a joint concentration with VES would be next to impossible because it would be hard to find anyone in the VES department who could read a joint thesis (joint concentrations require joint theses), if I could even figure out how to do a joint thesis. Secondly, because of the small class sizes, it was very difficult to enter a foundation VES course without declaring VES as a concentration. I foolishly did not declare VES as a concentration, even though I could have always gone back and changed my concentration whereas once I didn't get into the VES course I applied to, that was that.

So my first semester I took classes that were largely uninspiring, although in retrospect, I'm glad I took the economics classes that I did while at school. Freshman year at Harvard was a humbling experience. Like many Harvard students, I went from being a big fish in a small pond to a small fish in a big pond. I learned that I had never really learned to study -- one doesn't absorb much information while chatting on AIM til the wee hours of the night. I joined the orchestra because it was something I had always done, and found myself loathing the conductor and rehearsals. Also, like many college freshmen, I didn't really know how to deal with all my newfound freedom.

Second semester was equally rough (I decided to take Orgo -- big mistake) but after a talk with one of my friends, I decided that this would be my last opportunity to give my love for art a fair shot. I took an introductory painting course and I loved it. By the end of the semester I knew that I wanted to be a VES concentrator. I also knew I had to figure out a way to break into the fashion industry. Once I got home in May, I started looking for internships in New York.