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"Exist to experience."| A Harvard Alum's Words on College Life


We had the privilege of interviewing Taylor Reneau and asked for some experience about: College Life


Taylor is:

  • an alum of Ivy League university, Harvard University in Massachusetts

  • the founder of Ivy Advise - an online course to help high school students get into dream school

  • a YouTuber who speaks on various topics about education


Here are some of her pieces of advice:

  • "In high school, I existed to succeed academically. At Harvard, I existed to experience."

  • " In college, you’re going to have to power through homesickness. "


Q: What is one inevitable obstacle we will all have to face in our college career, and do you have any tips specifically to how you overcame them?

A: In college, you’re going to have to power through homesickness. It’s a disorienting experience, being thrown into a completely new microcosm of people who you’ve never seen before in your life. You’ll panic, you’ll attach to someone, you’ll get over it. Me specifically? I spent the first three months of college eating with a new group of people in the dining hall. I figured I would have the best shot of meeting a group I gelled with if I didn’t just cling to the first person I met.





Q: If you realized you had given yourself too many commitments, how did you determine what to give up?

A: At Harvard, I focused mostly on my wildly varied classes and on having amazing conversations in the dining hall. I didn’t make the same mistake I did in high school. In high school, I existed to succeed academically. At Harvard, I existed to experience.




Q: Do you have any last words of advice you would like a high schooler to know?

A: You are too young to settle for practical. Your life is not practical; your life is extraordinary. Settle for nothing less than everything that you want, because you can have it. Whether you want to learn how to genetically alter a butterfly’s wings from blue to pink or you want to chat on the phone with Beyoncé or you want to get accepted to Harvard, anything is within your reach… if you’re creative and devoted enough to figure out how to do it.



If you want to know more about Taylor, take a look at her LinkedIn, her YouTube Channel YesReneau, and her business, Ivy Advise.

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