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Instead of encouraging world-changing ambition, Harvard shamelessly peddles careers of highly compensated lawyering with any of many carnivorous corporate law firms that await students upon graduation. Of course we want our greatest thinkers to pursue careers that amount to nothing more a paper chase of billable hours – what else would they possibly do? It all sounds like a power mongrel's dream come true, and it is a dream in so many ways. The fantasy develops from common misconceptions about success. Success does not require a six or seven figure salary; it does not require a $3,000 suit; it is not determined by the prestige of one's employer. Integrity is success. Fidelity is success. Success comes from knowing that your work yields a significant social benefit. Harvard does not signify success to those who are not blinded by the societal materiality that we all give up when we die. No matter how many possessions we may have, or how much power we may accrue, we are all stripped clean when the breath of life leaves us.  Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts (right) is a graduate of the Harvard Law School. Now I could easily be seen as somewhat of a hypocrite to be here, standing on the corner, mounted on a soapbox, with my bullhorn and flyers proclaiming "Don't believe the hype!" I bought into the hype as soon as I enrolled at Harvard, at least to some extent. Even if my proclamations are correct, pervasive hype can, and has made many men. I came up here for some reason didn't I? The internal conflict that I have grappled with has a clear source; my life and career ambitions do not line up with the Harvard norm. I may sound like an ultra-privileged S.O.B. to talk about how working a six-figure corporate job is "not for me," but please understand that I am not a wealthy man. I know that most folks would push their own mother down a flight of steps to be in the position that I am in, but that does not mean that I have to live my life in a way that most men in my shoes would. In the words of my late father, "people say [getting an education] is about getting a good job, but it isn't about a job – it's about the skills you take with you when a company folds, or when it's just time for you to go, to move on. It's about what you are able to accomplish when you are out on your own and need to take your skill set and credentials with you." In the end, I feel that a career as a lawyer essentially limits the professional pursuits of a person to the confines of the law. While these confines can be extremely broad, I still think that the Harvard path would put me into an intellectual straightjacket. That is unacceptable to me. Unfortunately, it took me a year at the most prestigious school in the world to realize how unsatisfied I would be with a marriage to the law. Now I have been forced to call off the engagement even though the wedding invitations have already been sent. Sometimes I wonder if I am underestimating the power, significance, and breadth of the law. Sometimes I wonder if I should just let the Ivy do what it does – grow all over the place and take over everything in its path. I could probably make a nice living that way. So what does an erudite man choose? His individual passions, or the Harvard hype? Cole Wiley is a freelance author, student filmmaker, and the President/CEO of Heygood Images Productions, Inc. He is currently a third-year student at Harvard Law School and the son of the late journalist and author Ralph H. Wiley, Jr. You can contact him at
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