Following reports that Eldo Kim ’16 had planned the false bomb alert in four buildings on Monday in order to cancel his Gov 1368: Politics of American Education exam, students have expressed a wide spectrum of emotions: relief, anger, annoyance, even occasional laughter. Given Boston’s recent and horrific bombings, hearing that a fellow student would abuse such fears for their own benefit can justify just about any reaction. But despite the severity of Kim’s actions, no one at Harvard can claim they were surprised, and that’s what’s truly horrifying. On the inside, Harvard students overwhelm themselves with a thirst for achievement, and in the process of doing so we trivialize everything else.
When the news of the bomb threat first came out, we all frantically texted each other the news. Within minutes, we heard “Science Center, Emerson, Sever, and Thayer.” The first three of those hold exams, and instantly any fear among the student body vanished. Bomb threats on an exam day at exam-hosting buildings at a school full of academic machines? The obviousness was chuckle-inducing, and many students rejoiced as their classes cancelled exams.
Since media reports that afternoon, the student body has further lauded Kim’s actions. On Tuesday, Facebook and Twitter exploded with claims that Kim’s actions vindicate our efforts in spite of grade inflation. We celebrated the further proof of our value and merit and rubbed it in the face of those who say we get easy A’s.
Surely, Kim’s actions were bad, but the intentions that he and the entire student body shared are just as disgusting, and that’s what we all tend to forget. Since high school, we’ve devolved from humans to achievement machines, bolstering applications and continuously preparing for the next step. In our utter focus and insanity, it becomes less and less outlandish to commit felonies for the sake of study time.
While this will hopefully be the last time a student reaches such extremes as Monday’s, everyone here over-prioritizes achievement to some extent. All of us have blown off a distressed friend to work on a problem set, not returned our parents phone calls because we had a midterm coming up, and otherwise ignored our own mental and physical well-being. Before we throw stones, self-reflection might show that our anger involves a little self-hating.
In our drive for achievement, our self-expectations have no ceilings. Kim, for example, is nothing short of spectacular: trilingual, half-a-dozen top-notch internships, national writing awards. Getting an F in a class, much less on an exam, would not have cost him. Nor would a movie night cost the many among us who sprint from shopping period to exams, calling it all “worth it” when we get report cards in late December. Summers are chances to pad resumes, not to catch up with old friends and family. Yes, one day we’ll all be rich and successful, but along the way we’ll have made no one—ourselves included—happy. Whether we’ll be happy at that point is debatable.
This is a moment to remember that life isn’t just about accomplishments. Human value transcends income and status, and when we get too wrapped up in the day-to-day drive for success we let go of what really matters. As much as we might want to get mad at Kim, we’re generally no better. Maybe some of us are somewhat less consumed by the Harvard culture, or at least composed enough to avoid committing felonies, but we’ve all forgotten who we really are and what we really matters. If you hadn’t, you probably never could have gotten into Harvard or any other “highly selective” college in the first place.
I won’t pretend to have a solution. As long as there are top colleges, they’ll take the best students, and students will keep striving to do their best. Perfectionists will thrive, and eventually a culture of pressure develops. At least, we all need to recognize our shortcomings and occasionally take some time to step back and discover whether we’re really satisfied. More often than not around here, the answer is a resounding “no.”
Eldo Kim symbolizes the entire Harvard student body. It’s time to forgive and repent, because we’re all constantly driving one another towards the stress that caused this entire ordeal. So long as it’s cool to abuse Red Bull and push the boundaries of mental sanity, an occasional student will be driven to make very poor decisions. It’s our job to help our classmates, and ourselves, avoid those pitfalls and live somewhat reflective, happy lives—because maybe that’s what we should really consider an achievement.