"Never." Enough. I'm sick of always talking about my stupid school.

"Just study, huh?" he laughs.

"I live for the books," I say.

And then, mercifully, Fred's bus pulls up. "Think you'll go to law school?" is the last thing I hear from Fred, as I chalk up yet another great awkward conversation.

NON-HARVARD STUDENTS may think I'm being oversensitive by not wanting to talk about Harvard. Aren't I just another Harvard elitist? After all, the vast majority of college students I met this summer were all eager to talk about their schools--from their school's U.S. News & World Report rankings to Greek life.

I too can remember a time--right after I received my acceptance letter--that I would actually hope to be asked the college question, just so I could say the H-word. Over a year later, though, the mere mention of Harvard foretells conversational disaster.

Enough, enough, enough.

But it's fall registration time now, and I'm back with people who know the difference between a study card and a bursar's card, a hamburger and a hamburger extravaganza, social studies and sociology and a proctor and a prefect.

It's great to be back in the real world.