Two weeks ago I talked about the danger of tunnel vision, and how solely focusing on one end goal often causes students to lose sight of the big picture and miss out on opportunities to explore fascinating prospects. But there are two sides to every story.
Will McQuiston ’24 is the student embodiment of hard work. Raised in Prattville, Alabama, McQuiston’s upbringing saw a drastic proportion of encounters that no child should ever experience. He discusses how hard drugs, homelessness, and broken families largely distinguished the formative years of his life and how he was forced to experience many harsh realities of the world at such a young age. He also believes in tunnel vision.
Well, not exactly. But Will does recognize the importance of practicing it. In high school, Will was hit with the challenge of a mother struggling with addiction on top of the responsibility of looking after two younger brothers. He sought solace in academic and athletic immersion, playing on his high school’s varsity football team and often not coming home until late at night. Will takes pride in his ability to translate circumstance to success.
“I take a lot of pride in [the fact that] I don’t let a lot of things slow me down or stop me,” he said.
When asked what he would tell his 16 year-old-self, McQuiston doesn’t hesitate to explain the value he places on people to just “keep stepping forward.” He cites the Bible verse Matthew 14:22-33, in which Jesus calls Peter to walk out to him on water; Peter does so successfully until he looks around, becomes afraid, and begins to sink. McQuiston draws parallels between this universal anecdote and the issue that many students face today.
In my conversation with Keith Raffel, we discussed how coming to Harvard with predetermined goals can often stymie people from taking full advantage of what the school has to offer. Yet embodying the extreme alternative, recognizing every extracurricular or academic demand with full force, can also easily be detrimental for one’s mental health.
Perhaps the perfect balance lies in the ability to shift between perspectives. When faced with challenge, devastation, and extreme adversity, forcing ourselves to essentially have tunnel vision and only focus on the variables that are in our control can greatly determine how resiliently we can overcome obstacles. Alternatively, myopia also leads people to lose sight of the big picture, which also has its faults. It’s important to be able to transition between these two mindsets and recognize that although opportunities to challenge ourselves are important, they should not have the strength to break us.