"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 .