Growing up in West Germany in the 1980s, America was omnipresent. Aside from Hollywood and Coca-Cola, there was one US brand that stood out: Harvard. The university’s name stood on a par with the highest echelons of knowledge.
In high school, we learned about Ivy League institutions and, like other nerdy kids across the planet, I dreamed about being a student at Harvard and being immersed in deep conversations about the most crucial questions concerning human existence. Fast forward 20-something…