Steven Maheshwary: “Confidence, in a Handful of Dust”

Student speech at Harvard College Class Day 2012

Steven Maheshwary

In his Harvard Oration, one of four student speeches on Class Day, Steven Maheshwary ’12 stressed the importance of enthusiasm and urged his fellow classmates on Class Day 2012 to prepare for a life beyond the fixed paths they have followed up until now: “The vast world we meet next imposes ambiguity—there are no set Core or GenEd classes to take, no consistent HUDS menu to rely on, and the commute may even be farther than the plane ride between the River and the Quad. And this can offer a lot of pain and confusion, but the best gain made from pain is the reign of enthusiasm.”

Sub topics

You might also like

Breaking Bread

Alexander Heffner ’12 plumbs the state of democracy.

Reading the Winds

Thai sailor Sophia Montgomery competes in the Olympics.

Chinese Trade Dragons

How Will China’s Rapid Growth in the Clean Technology Industry Reshape U.S.-China Policy?

Most popular

Breaking Bread

Alexander Heffner ’12 plumbs the state of democracy.

Who Built the Pyramids?

Not slaves. Archaeologist Mark Lehner, digging deeper, discovers a city of privileged workers.

Decoding the Deep

Project CETI’s pioneering effort to unlock the language of sperm whales

More to explore

American Citizenship Through Photography

How photographs promote social justice

Harvard Philosophy Professor Alison Simmons on "Being a Minded Thing"

A philosopher on perception, the canon, and being “a minded thing”