For many Harvard students, the prospect of finding a job and a place to live after Commencement is a daunting one.
Students may face countless pressures--whether from parents or peers--to go to graduate school or to medicine, law or business.
Many may feel pressured to leave the friendly and familiar Boston area and secure that coveted high-salary investment banking job on Wall Street.
In recent years, however, many Harvard grads have opted to turn away from such career tracks, choosing instead to follow their dreams of working in such fields as public service, journalism and technology.
And many have chosen to settle within miles of Fair Harvard.
According to Director of the Office of Career Services (OCS) Bill Wright-Swadel, over the past decade, the percentages of graduates taking jobs in various sectors have remained relatively stable.
But more recent OCS statistics may show a trend away from the business world and into the public service sector.
"There seems to be a beginning trend...of students who are talking about non-corporate careers," Wright-Swadel said.
Many students who seek advice at OCS are hesitant to break the mold and stray away from high-paying, and often high-status careers in business, medicine or law.
"One of the things that we hear...are students who are interested in doing something non-corporate, but feel either financial or peer pressures to do otherwise," Wright-Swadel said.
But some ignore the pressure.
And those who were simply happy in the Boston area, and decided to stick around, pursuing a career for enjoyment--and not the dollars--offer a perspective often unheard around these parts.
A 'Hired Nerd'
When he first came to Harvard from Florida, Albert Elia IV '96 had not ever considered the possibility of living around Boston after college.
Four years later, after concentrating in applied mathematics and computer science, Elia began the search for a job.
He limited his search to four cities, with Boston as his second choice.
But choice No. 1 never panned out, and last August, Elia began work as a computer consultant at C-Bridge Internet Solutions, located on Vasser Street near MIT in Cambridge.
Describing himself as a "hired nerd," Elia said that he works to help businesses operate more efficiently.
Elia assists clients who come to C-Bridge to "web-enable their businesses," he said.
While Elia said he likes living in Boston, he said that he initially felt a little too close to Harvard for comfort.
Originally, Elia lived in Cambridge near Peabody Terrace, but said he had to move to the Back Bay. He was running into so many Harvard people that he felt like he had not really graduated. ATTORNEY But Harshbarger's friends say that whether on the freshman football team or in any social situation, he quickly became a standout among peers and eventually was voted a Class Marshal. Richard G. Darman '64, one of Harshbarger's Eliot House roommates and chair of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget in the Bush administration, says that the transition was "irrelevant." "He was an instant success at Harvard, helped undoubtably by his attractive personal style," Darman says. While Darman and a third member of their Eliot House suite were both members of the Owl Club, Harshbarger did not join a final club. Many of Harshbarger's friends said his upbringing has given him a strong moral background. "He was a person who was totally confident of his own values," Darman says. "[His parents] are the world's most solid people in the way of values." The attorney general says that the 1963 Yale Game remains one the strongest memories of his time at Harvard. Harshbarger and his teammates were practicing for The Game when they learned that President John F. Kennedy '40 had been assassinated. The Game was postponed a week as the University and the nation went into mourning. Harshbarger, who grew up with Kennedy as a hero, feels that Kennedy's commitment to public service was one of the central principles of Harvard culture during that era. "I was in college when public service was the most noble thing you could do," says Harshbarger. After graduating from Harvard in 1964, Harshbarger took a fellowship at the Union Theological Seminary in East Harlem in New York City, where he spent a year working with church and community organizations. After leaving New York, Harshbarger spent three years at Harvard Law School and graduated in 1968. Instead of returning to Pennsylvania after school, Harshbarger chose to settle in the Boston area and now lives in Westboro, Mass. He has since married and has three children, including Anne M. Stephenson '98, who lives in Eliot House. The State's First Lawyer Although they say that he has a strong moral foundation, Harshbarger's colleagues are quick to add that he is a savvy politician. Calling Harshbarger's leadership style "cautious," former State Rep. and Democratic candidate for governor Mark Roosevelt '78 says that the attorney general's ideals are not always carved in stone. "On issues, he's not a driven ideologue," Roosevelt says. Nonetheless, the attorney general has emerged as a state and national leader on several issues. Harshbarger is gaining national publicity for his on-going legal battle with tobacco firms. Massachusetts recently filed suit against major tobacco corporations in an effort to reclaim more than $1 billion that the state has spent on health care for ill smokers. As president of the National Association of Attornies General, Harshbarger is trying to coordinate the efforts of several states that are filing similar suits. Harshbarger is also becoming known for his opposition to gambling. Since passage of the 1988 Federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, tribes have had the right to operate casinos on their land. Many of the Bay State's smaller communities, traditionally burdened by weaker local economies, view gaming as a panacea. The attorney general says that his position on gambling is not a moral decision but a matter of what is best for the economy in these cities. "To have it, that's one thing, but don't sell it as a source of economic growth," Harshbarger says. As attorney general, Harshbarger says that he has a very productive relationship with current Republican governor William F. Weld '66. The attorney general says that as governor he would maintain the financial restraint that the Weld administration has made its signature. Harshbarger says that he would not eliminate the current $900 million bond cap, a major part of the state's rise from near financial chaos. But he says that the administration's funding priorities must be re-thought. "I'd much prefer to have 24 leading New Bedford business people meeting with me regularly instead of trying to figure out how to get a casino," Harshbarger says. Campaign Questions While most state politicos are counting on a close race, they believe that Harshbarger faces tough odds. As of March, Harshbarger's campaign committee had $554,975 in the bank while Kennedy, last required to report his balances in December, had $1,247,271 in his federal account. Beyond his superior fund-raising power and his extensive political organization, many feel that Kennedy has other significant advantages. When asked if he felt Harshbarger would be able to weather the Kennedy onslaught, one prominent state Democrat wasn't optimistic. "It's a long haul, but not just for the reasons that most people would say," the Democrat said. "For better or for worse, Joe inspires a lot of passion and Scott doesn't. But after watching Harshbarger's win the Attorney General's office in 1990, upsetting incumbent Democrat Jim Shannon Kennedy's supporters are not taking the challenge lightly. "You cannot discount Scott Harshbarger, McGrail says. "You can ask Jim Shannon that and he'll tell you the same thing." In addition, Weld has not eliminated the possibility of running for a third term in 1998, despite his previous pledges that he would restrict himself to two terms. And while there are many indications that the gears of the Kennedy machine are already turning, Kennedy maintains that it is too early to begin campaigning. "There's a time for campaigning and there's a time for governing," Kennedy said after speaking to constituents in Cambridge on Monday.
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