Facebook Almost Didn't Happen?: A Mark Zuckerberg Story

“He told me he was planning to move to California to begin a start up. Me, who saw the dot-com crash and burn, advised him not to. He wanted to make something called “Facebook.” What? How did he expect to compete with companies like Friendster, Myspace? How ridiculous. Did he want to give up his path and education in Harvard? Yes, this student was Mark Zuckerburg.”

Convocation

I’m attending a state boarding school and on the first day of classes we have something called “convocation.” An alumni and current Google employee came to give the annual convocation speech. From what I’ve heard, people say this is the best convocation they’ve had so far. It was an incredibly interesting speech filled with humor, insightful words, and relevance.

Deciding between Google or Harvard

Matt, the speaker, graduated from this school about 20 years ago. He went on the college and majored in programming. Google offered him a job in 2002 when they were just another risky search engine company, an area that did not fare well for others. He turned the job down and now reminisces that if he had taken the stocks they had offered him, he’d be flying to an island on a private jet to sip margaritas after the speech. He eventually became a Harvard professor and scored himself a permanent position, meaning they wouldn’t let him go or fire him unless he slept with the wrong student or something (his words). He had a pretty cushy position; teach a few classes in the morning, take home a stable paycheck. His mom was happy.

The position allows professors to go on sabbaticals every five years to explore other interests. He decided to work for Google for a year and then return afterwards. After working with Google, he decided “This is where I want to be. This is what I’m happy doing — coding. Working with people who are smarter than me.” So he decided to quit. Quit Harvard. “This was kinda big deal because they had just given me the position to work at Harvard for life. Why would you leave?”

“As a professor, I was normally the smartest in the room. I realized that to grow you have to surround yourself with people smarter than you. Despite me discouraging Mark from following his dreams, he still did it and look at what has happened today. It’s revolutionized networking and how I communicate with my friends. I’ve reconnected with my fellow alumni from this school.”

The Path to Dreams

Ok, so I realize that I don’t know how much his professor’s words actually discouraged, or possibly encouraged him. I just know that on the path to his dreams, he had someone who told him not to do it. Not to take the risk, to go on his safe and prestigious path. Other people probably told him to do the same thing. He, who now looks so successful and rich, had obstacles to get to where he is today.

What will you do?

*I have paraphrased what I remembered from the speech.

Leslie's Going to Boarding School?!

Over 1,200 students applied. Only 350 got in. MEEE?!

It is basically the best school in…. should I reveal my location to you guys? I know the chances of getting a stalker is low, but still haha. Ok. North Carolina. And one of the best high schools across the US. They had the highest amount of applications than ever this year…. But I’m not going there alone. Three of my other friends will be joining me! So shocked and stoked we all got in! My two female friends and I decided not to request to be roommates because we might end up annoying each other and we don’t want to damage our friendship.

How I got in

Aside from the obvious — getting good grades, taking up extracurriculars, yadda yadda — I also did something quite peculiar to the normal bystandar. I acted if I already got in. I do this for practically everything I want. Look at it like this: What have you got to lose by just feeling like you already have something? I could doubt and struggle but I prefer to feel bliss, like the universe is just giving to me because I decided so.

“So what are you thinking about possibly getting into RSS*?” asked my math teacher. *renamed by me to the acronym ‘Really Smart School’

“The real question is ‘how am I not going to be accepted?’” I replied.

My classmates cracked up. “Well, you’re a cocky little thing aren’t you?”

Every time it was mentioned, I was just like yeah, I’m already in there. But at times I really was apathetic to my status. My friend, C, on the other hand was a bit of a nervous wreck. I wouldn’t even know today is the acceptance/nonacceptance day if it wasn’t for her.

“6 more days….” C said wistfully.

“What are you talking about?”

“Leslie, this is so obvious.”

“It’s obviously not.”

“Until your application status for RSS is revealed,” chimed in the friend who had called me cocky.

“Even she knew that, and she’s not even applying.”

“C, you can’t expect me to understand these cryptic messages.”

—-

“So are you nervous about getting in or not?” asked my homeroom teacher.

“…Not really, I’m pretty confident.”

—

“When we get in –”

“You mean if we get in.”

“When we get in, let’s go shopping for groceries at Whole Foods together.”

–

Quite honestly, it would’ve been really embarrassing if I didn’t get in because of my arrogant attitude.

The school specializes in math and science but also excels in a host of other subjects. They have large choice and variety in course selections… The athletics are also great.

College Bound?
The funny thing is though… I don’t think I’m going to go to college. I’m not going to the school to prepare to get a scholarship and go to college. I’m purely going for a great experience. To learn, to grow, to push myself beyond my boundaries. I’ll be one of those people who messes up the 99% statistic for college goers. Tomorrow I’m pretending I didn’t get accepted and C is going along with it.

Intelligence?

I’ll be honest, I do think of myself as pretty intelligent but not a genius… and it seems like it’s a school bred for the highest caliber of geniuses. Whew, that robotics program! I’m lazy and do my homework during school. At RSS? No, I’m stepping up my game. I still work on the Learning on Steroids tactics and to prepare myself, I’m mastering a couple of techniques during the rest of this school year.

Why did I apply?
I’ve thought about it since the 7th grade but mostly just applied because it was expected of me. Like fish gills and water, I was just expected to jam. I’m also dissatisfied with my county and school in general… why not?
It’s known here on radicalturtle that I don’t like most aspects of the school system. I still don’t, but I think time at RSS will be much more immensely enjoyable. I went to the school last month for some tests and a tour, and it was just oozing with a unique charisma. New friends, a new lifestyle, new adventures!

Homesickness?
I might miss aspects of home like a queen sized bed and my own room. Sometimes my parents. I’ve been pretty independent since I was young so this probably won’t be an issue.

How much does it cost?
Free. Boarding, food, everything. I can literally live a comfortable lifestyle without any money there. It’s one of the few charter/boarding schools completely funded by the state in the country. I will bring money though, mostly for food. The one aspect I didn’t like about the school was the cafeteria. It’s better than the average highschool,  but still subpar. How can you expect to run amazing young innovative minds on that riffraff? Neh, I’ll be preparing my own food and storing it in the huge refrigerator at the end of every dorm hallway. I also expect to fast a couple days of the week to just cut down on hassle and time.

I’ll definitely do a video tour of the amazing school in August and tell you guys about my new life there. I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to dedicate to personal development blogging though . I  expect it to be a profound period of intense growth.

P.S. Asians are 25% of the school’s population. I’m convinced every smart Asian and Indian in the state has applied there.