After graduating from Harvard, I got rejected from 100+ jobs

After graduating from Harvard, I got rejected from 100+ jobs.

The one that broke me? Ticket-taker at a traveling carnival.

I wanted to drive across the country in our old family van with one tank of gas, then earn money however I could to keep going. Sleep in the van, work random jobs, see what I was actually made of.

But every choice I'd made to get into Harvard:

the studying…

the extracurriculars…

the "right" internships…

…meant I'd never done any of the things these jobs actually required. Never waitressed, never worked retail, never learned to smile through someone yelling at me about ticket prices.

I'd spent years unconsciously following the expected path of a 2nd gen immigrant. The first time I wanted something that was truly mine - this cross-country adventure - those choices had already made it impossible.

So naturally, I ended up flying to Sri Lanka instead to do peace education work in the middle of a civil war. Because apparently my Harvard degree perfectly qualified me for navigating war zones.

Every path you optimize for closes off a dozen others you’ve never even considered yet. Decisions matter.