THE BOMB LIFE

The Bomb Life

10 In Bomb Life 101/ Claire's Life

I, too, am Harvard

I never thought I’d get in to Harvard, and for a long time, I felt the admissions officers had somehow made a mistake on my application.
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My mom warned me before I started my freshman year that I was going to school with, “A bunch of dorks.” She was right. Most people I encountered on Harvard Yard were valedictorians and salutatorians, people who had gotten perfect SAT scores, and math whizzes with photographic memories.

I was none of the above.
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I was blessed to go to a great college preparatory school (the best in the Southeast). I began at the Westminster Schools of Atlanta in 4th grade, and had some trouble at first getting up to speed with the rest of my classmates. That first year, my mom was called in because I’d totally gotten an assignment wrong and the teacher was concerned! But after that one snafu, I sailed. I truly began to focus on academics in junior high.

With some Westminster Kids. I was always getting my pose on!

With some Westminster Kids. I was always getting my pose on!


I remember my group of friends and I, instead of going to teacher’s classrooms for help with our homework after school or actually DOING our homework, we’d go into the bathroom, put on makeup, tell jokes, sing SWV songs and make up dance routines. We were the class clowns, the ones who were rowdy, loud, and always had something silly to say.

I’ll never forget: at the end of 6th grade we had an assembly, recognizing people for outstanding achievements. At the end of the assembly, the principal called people to the stage who had gotten Honor Roll, and awarded them with a certificate decorated with a gold seal. My school wasn’t very diverse; out of 200 students per class, we had about 15 black kids. I was shocked by how few people of color were up there! In fact, only one African-American girl, Keia, was on stage (she later attended Harvard as well).

My SWV singing friends and I were all in the audience, looking like fools. I was ashamed. I knew that I could do better, and I felt that the people on stage weren’t that great! I wanted a gilded certificate! At that moment, I decided that I wasn’t ok with being average.

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I started applying myself. I began studying, doing my homework, and asking teachers for help when I didn’t know what was going on. I eventually started to ACE the regular classes. For 7th grade math, I got almost perfect scores on every test, just because I did my homework! I realized that the tests were just slight variations on the homework, so when it was time for any quiz or test, I was prepared. Once you master the regular classes, you are inducted into honor classes. By high school, I was in all honors classes (except science), and I did well in those also. From 7th grade until graduation, I was on honor roll every semester. I got my gold certificate.

Aside from studying, I was active in track, cheerleading, and tennis. I was the President of the French club, a principal violist in the high school orchestra, and a member of the Diversity Club.

It’s actually taken me years to ‘own’ the fact that not only did I get into Harvard, but that I attended, and graduated, with honors (magna cum laude, baby!).
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So many young women these days are obsessed with Instagram likes, perfecting their pout, and being pretty.

Back in the day (I feel so old!), I guess the equivalent was my friends going to the mall, putting on makeup, and singing SWV in the bathroom!

But I didn’t realize at the time how much I was selling myself short or how much I was limiting myself by focusing just on having fun or meeting cute boys. There’s seriously more to life than that! And you never know how far you can go if you simply shift your attention and apply yourself.

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When I was in that junior high assembly, going to a school like Harvard wasn’t even a notion.

I learned: don’t limit yourself. Don’t be afraid to be brilliant. Strive for the best, and who knows? You might go further than you ever dreamed.

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