In the “silver lining” category of the recent economic downturn, consider this interesting fact. In 2007, 58% of Harvard’s male graduating class, and 43% of its female graduating class, went into the fields of finance and consulting. When asked why, Harvard’s new president, Drew G. Faust, quipped that the easy answer was the same one given by Willie Sutton when asked why he robbed banks. “Because that’s where the money is,” he replied. In contrast, only 39% of last year’s graduating class chose those fields. Why? Perhaps because there’s less money in those banks, these days.
So why is that good news? Because stripped of the temptation presented by huge amounts of fast cash, those graduates might now think a little more clearly about what they’d really like to do. After all, if you’re not going to make huge money, actually enjoying what you’re doing becomes more important. And selecting a passion-driven vocation or career is less risky, and less agonizing a choice to make, if you’re not (foolishly?) walking away from huge piles of money in order to pursue it. The bar to entry goes down.
President Faust, like most college presidents, encouraged those 2008 graduates to pursue what they loved, instead of what would simply pay well. “If you don’t try to do what you love … if you don’t pursue what you think will be most meaningful, you will regret it,” she cautioned. (I liked the analogy she made, comparing the choice to parking 20 blocks away from your destination out of fear that you won’t be able to find a place closer. “There is always time for Plan B. But don’t begin with it,” she said. “Go where you want to be and then circle back to where you have to be.”)
It may be that for all its downsides, the collapse of Wall Street has taken a lot of pressure off young people who thought they had to leap, and leap now, to catch the money train, before it left the station. Well, that train is gone. And considering that the last time Wall Street’s salaries were so astronomically higher than everyone else’s was the late 1920s (e.g. right before the last crash), it’s not likely to come through the station again anytime soon. So, pressure off, college graduates can take a look around at some of the other interesting trains, and destinations, they might have overlooked before.
And why is that necessarily good? Because the fact that students choosing finance and consulting dropped so precipitously as soon as the money started to dry up (can’t wait to see what the numbers are this year!) indicates that all those graduates weren’t choosing Wall Street for fun, or because they loved the work. So while the crash doesn’t guarantee they’ll all now find happiness or fulfillment in their careers or lives, it does mean that fewer are jumping on board a career train they chose only for the money. Which means their chances of being happy, at least, just got a whole lot better.
As someone who has spent a few decades on the planet, believe the words of this essay. Your Brain can be swayed to forgive a mis-spent life. But your Heart can never be so persuaded. Listen to your Heart.