there is this movie that starred moira kelly and brendan fraser. it's entitled, 'with honors'. brendan is a 'straight A', government concentrator at harvard. he is about to graduate summa cum laude and cap his academic pursuits with a solid thesis when things warped. he got very excited by a remark from his adviser that if he just keep up the sophistication of the arguments he beefed his thesis with, then he will leave 'the yard' with highest honors. with that assurance from his adviser, he burned his computer (in lieu of the midnight oil) and tried to beat the night out with an even more solid thesis. (this is not a very good movie... a lot of not-so-interesting clips followed the computer scene... therefore, to make a long story short, the computer got bugged and he has to salvage whatever is left of his thesis). brendan then panicked. he ran to the nearest shop to have his thesis backed up. then he tripped and his thesis dropped in a tunnel leading to Widener - the largest university library in the world. this is where he encountered a nomad who picked his thesis. (again, this is not a very good movie... a lot of not-so-interesting scenes followed the encounter). the nomad bargained that he will return his thesis chapter per chapter, page per page for every favor brendan gives him... brendan was pissed, annoyed, and even mad at first... but his interaction with him taught him some really hard hitting aspects of the real world. of course, at harvard, the world is what you see at harvard. if you do not see poverty of any kind at harvard, then poverty of whatever kind must only be provisionally, if not superficially, existing. such therefore is the case of the nomad - at least to harvard. 'harvard' is also what the nomad called brendan. the interaction between the nomad and brendan - again, whom he called 'harvard', then led to a kind of realization on the part of 'harvard'. he thought at first that society is a rigid structure that succumbs to the designs of the human race. but with his brief interaction with the nomad, his view of the world and of life that it sustains, suddenly - almost miraculously, changed. he thought that perhaps, the sophistication of harvard education missed out on the things that actually mattered most in life. in the first place, harvard is one great institution of higher learning that teaches you everything that you needed to learn in the world except perhaps happiness. harvard does not teach you how to be happy... or so, 'harvard thought'... so, he overhauled his thesis... reoriented his perspective of the world... and became more conscientious about his role in making the world a better place to live in (cliche)... this of course did not escape notice by his adviser. he was chastised for writing a sub-solid thesis (at least from harvard's perspective) to replace a rock-solid one... (here comes the boring part of the story)... imagine if you will, pontifications like 'the world needs a listener not a lecturer, a leader not a president...' or things to that effect... in the end, the nomad had a last glimpse of his son whom he abandoned. ('harvard' helped him find his son... this was the last favor he would have to give him to reclaim the last chapter of his thesis)... the nomad's last encounter with his long lost son is of course one of the moving scenes in the story... his son disowned him...
in his deathbed, the nomad gave 'harvard' what in ordinary situation is called a last will and testament... the 'will' read,"to 'harvard', you will graduate life with honors and without regret"...
then came the pomp and circumstance of graduation... brendan's name was called... but without the latin honors that should have come after it. but even so, a smile arched on his lips as he tossed his cap high up in the air.
PS:
congratulations to those who made it to the Maroon 5. i just hope though, that you do not get your academics 'get in the way' of your education.
