Jackson Collins

Finance Major, Class of 2019

In college, it’s easy to fall into the groove. There’s a cycle of going to class, attending clubs and extra-curriculars, and studying that most of the student body spends their day in. And while this routine keeps your GPA up and your social life fresh, for me there was something missing. I couldn’t exactly pinpoint it, but it was something that was abstract but so necessary to making the most of the college experience. I found that hidden element at Illuminate.

I shared an intense desire to innovate and inspire within the students at the Harvard Illuminate Conference. They transcended the bounds of their curriculum and had decided to blaze their own trail in the world. I finally found that missing element I had been searching before. It was an element of creativity that could only be found when working with those who are just as willing as you to tear down the standards of today to solve the problems we may face tomorrow. I was surrounded by peers who would stand in the future with me and pull the rest of the world to us.

If there is anything I learned from this conference, it was that the present is in no short supply of innovators and entrepreneurs fearlessly charging into the future to make the world a better place for us all.

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