Should a Harvard education prepare you for failure?
Should failure be normalized in the course of higher education?
Or at the very least, would you want to learn how to take or talk about failure?
Sangu as a senior at Harvard College – where he was studying Economics and African studies, with a particular focus on development.
Those are the sort of questions rarely asked if you’re a Harvard student who is used to acing your exams, winning accolades or top awards until one day – you suddenly lose what you’ve been taking for granted.
In “Where Are They Now?” Episode #4, Gemma Schneider (Harvard student journalist/Class of 2023) interviews Sangu Delle (Harvard Class of 2010, Harvard JD & MBA 2016). An entrepreneur, investor, author and philanthropist, Sangu speaks powerfully about his personal struggle with depression after a major business investor died suddenly before wiring the money. A lot were at stakes. Sangu was at a loss for words and found himself in a dark world for a long time before getting back on his feet.
Today, he is a champion for mental health and a vocal teacher about the norm of failure.
I am happy to be co-hosting this podcast as a contributing commentator. You’ll hear my reflection on how I too had rebounded from despair after first losing my mother, before losing my job and my health.
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“Where Are They Now?” is a special co-production between One in a Billion and WHRB (Harvard Radio Broadcasting).
It is a 6-part series featuring one-on-one interviews with Harvard graduates who draw lessons from their campus experience and personal insight from their current career to give you a taste of their trailblazing journey.
“Where Are They Now” is sponsored exclusively by One in a Billion Productions Inc. (501c3) – an educational media company designed to foster Asian voices and to build bridges between different communities of color. We believe in the power of personal storytelling to reach a wider and diverse community of audiences for better intercultural understanding.