The Harvard Resume

It’s been long accepted that it’s a fierce race out there, and the smart thing to do is prepare oneself to brace it well. Preparation can, of course, begin only once the destination has been decided. And it’s never too early to decide.

There are kids today, who have decided they want to take the JEE right in class eight, and what follows this clarity in vision is five years of dedicated single minded working towards the set goal. And then the kid fulfils his goal and finally enters the hallowed gates of these prestigious institutions, left quite without a goal for some time, having achieved the single objective he had. However, you must always have a goal as only then can you prepare and you must always prepare. So it isn’t long before our kid has found yet another goal. The clarity in thought is almost enviable. He knows what he wants, he is in a place where there’s no dearth of success stories to look to to and emulate  and he will soon have figured the best way to get there, and then it’s just a matter of doing exactly the right things at exactly the right times for the next four years. The path is set. A tad too set I think.

I have always been envious of this kind of clarity in thought and aim, and maybe this is just a case of sour grapes, but I have begun to sincerely believe that our generation has gotten trapped in a CV making rat race. For everything you want to be there’s a Harvard Resume, the perfect profile. And there’s a race out there to get as close to this Harvard Resume as one can. So, eventually one’s objective, the destination one is working so hard towards is but a Master Resume.

And there’ll be plenty who may see no reason to change this, but I think it’s rather ironical that resumes which are supposed to reflect upon an individual’s personality have now begun to dictate it.