I wish I'd learned to look at this
moment and not five months ahead all the
time you know I was very afraid when I
graduated from Harvard in 1986 that I
was not on the path that would lead me
to a certain outcome the thing that I
would have wished I'd learned in college
is how to attack big problems not just
how to learn the skillset how to be good
with mathematics skills or programming
skills how to think about how to help
Society I'm now realizing the incredible
benefits of a nonlinear path I was a
history major at Bryn Mawr College and
all of my work was in US and European
history College did not prepare me to
think big and take big cameras and big
risks so I wish I had had a more global
education I wish I'd learned more
languages I should have taken courses in
statistical reasoning I found out very
shortly thereafter when I went to do
graduate work and indeed then when I
went into academic administration if I
could read numbers better that would be
good it's a really hard question because
all the things I wish I learned in
college I couldn't have learned god I
couldn't I the things we wish we learned
in college are things that come with
experience and wisdom I think my
education was very euro/us centered and
that would be something that certainly
has changed in all of our higher
education institutions and I wish I'd
been the beneficiary of that I actually
look back and think that a few more
requirements would probably be a good
thing nowadays knowledge is at our
fingertips all you have to do is you
know just get online and you can get
information and so it's that's not
really the value-added I think of going
to college I mean yeah sure there are
courses I wish I had taken in things but
actually not not as many as you would
think I mean I wish I'd understood that
failures only hurt for the first two
days you know I wish I knew a little
more math but actually hasn't hurt me
too much in college if I had known that
I would I would have been less afraid
I think that's it