Brandon University Alumni Award: Fill & Download for Free

How about for starters, it’s the place where two of the richest people alive dropped out from?Ok, if that's not good enough, how about it being the place where there is a strong correlation between attending and becoming president (vs other Universities)?Being the first institution of higher learning (in the United States) back in 1636, it had a head start on the rest of the colleges and universities that would follow suit. Being such, it could recruit the best professors, the best admin and frankly, the best students as well.From then, it has gone on to have the following amazing people build their brand even more:T. S. Eliot, Poet; Nobel Prize in Literature winner (1948)John F. Kennedy, U.S. PresidentMasako, Crown Princess of Japan, Consort of Crown Prince Naruhito, the first son of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko; member of the Imperial House of Japan through marriageKenneth Chenault, CEO of American ExpressDavid Rockefeller, Banker; philanthropist; Chairman of Chase Manhattan BankBan Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nationsand these are just a handful of the many others including:Harvard's alumni includeeight U.S. presidents,several foreign heads of state,62 living billionaires,335 Rhodes Scholars,242 Marshall Scholars,150 Nobel laureates,18 Fields Medalistsand 13 Turing Award winners have been affiliated as students, faculty, or staff.Harvard's $37.6 billion financial endowment is the largest of any academic institutionIt operates several arts, cultural, and scientific museums, alongside the Harvard Library, which is the world's largest academic and private library system, comprising 79 individual libraries with over 18 million volumes.Source: Harvard UniversityThe Harvard University page has even more details about their “amazing library”:The Harvard Library—the largest academic library in the world—includes 20.4 million volumes, 180,000 serial titles, an estimated 400 million manuscript items, 10 million photographs, 124 million archived web pages, and 5.4 terabytes of born-digital archives and manuscripts. Access to this rich collection is provided by nearly 800 library staff members who operate more than 70 separate library units.It has the 2nd lowest admissions rate in the United States behind Stanford (and possibly in the world, if you just count what is reported).Supposedly they’re generous to their students:…generous financial aid program, with over $160 million awarded to more than 60% of our undergraduate students.An argument could be made for their online initiatives like:HarvardX is a University-wide strategic initiative, overseen by the Office of the Vice Provost for Advances in Learning (VPAL), to enable faculty to build and create open online learning experiences (free, low-touch, high-touch) for residential and online use, and to enable groundbreaking research in online pedagogies. To date, HarvardX has engaged more than 90 faculty across 10 schools, producing more than 60 open online courses with 3 million global registrants. On-campus, HarvardX has supported nearly 20 blended courses, convened 225 individuals (faculty, undergraduates, graduates, technologies) in developing content, teaching, and conducting research, and built new educational tools and technologies. A leader in advancing the science of learning, HarvardX has produced more than 95 related research publications and produced two major benchmark reports on MOOC learner demographics and behavior.Source: Harvard at a Glance | Harvard UniversityThese are just a few reasons…(p.s. I personally don’t believe it’s the best institution in the world, but that’s because I have different ideals than what I feel they espouse. At the same time, it’s definitely very impressive and there is no doubt that someone who not only gets accepted, but graduates from the University [or college] deserves a bit of respect. Nevertheless, a college does not make a wo/man…it only attempts to provide her/him an education and possibly a strong network.)p.p.s. I don’t know if the second question was in the original, but if it was, I should have mentioned “Oxford” was probably the best before many claiming Harvard as the top academic institution. At least it was unless you happened to graduate from their rival, Cambridge. Then again, I’m thinking many alumni of Stanford, CalTech, MIT, Beijing U, Seoul Nat’l and a handful of other “top universities” might also have an strong opinion to the contrary.

Who says it’s the “best university in the world?”I’m sure many graduates of the school might think this, but have you gone to New Haven, Connecticut? I’ll bet you there are a few folks there who might disagree. A good number of folks in the former Palo Alto and now Stanford, CA might also have some thoughts to the contrary.On the other side of the Pacific, you might want to ask someone in Seoul or families there or throughout Korea who sacrificed their lives to get their kids into Seoul National. How about the folks over in either Oxford or Cambridge, England. I’m thinking they wouldn’t mind debating you on this question? Or lastly, maybe even the millions of people who have done everything they can to get into the top University in mainland China. I’ve made the argument that the admission rates for Peking University & Seoul National are much more challenging to obtain admissions.But I do agree there is a distinct perception that buttresses the notion that ‘Harvard’ is the best academic institution these days in the world.Why?These are my top 4 reasons I believe people “believe” it’s the best collegiate opportunity:It’s considered the first university in the U.S. Given this perception and/or fact, it has the longest history of any school to maintain or enhance its image as the top University. Basically, it was first. Many organizations and other early stage anything had the “edge” and it appears Harvard’s done many things to keep it there.The Internet buttressed this even more since 1993. While Oxford (1096) and Cambridge (1209) are older, Harvard has the support of the country that basically made the Internet popular. And the U.S. continues to be the largest presence in terms of companies and organizations that promulgate this potential belief that it’s the best. Unversities in Europe may be older, but the “best” university in the world’s largest economy supports this “top university” notion. Having the support of American companies helps change history.Eight Presidents of the United States have graduated from Harvard University: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes, John F. Kennedy, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.Many CEO’s of top organizations have graduated from Harvard including: Lloyd C. Blankfein, Goldman Sachs Group, Michael A. Brown, Symantec , Michael L. Corbat, Citigroup, Roger W. Ferguson Jr., TIAA, John B. Hess, Hess, Kendall J. Powell, General Mills, James L. Robo, NextEra Energy, Carlos A. Rodriguez, ADP, Ronald L. Sargent, Staples, John L. Walsh, UGI. And two famous drop outs (who also became two of the richest in all history) started at Harvard, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg definitely chose the Crimson as their college of choice.—For further support, here are some of the answers I like to questions very similar to this before:Why is Harvard considered the best? - contributions by Deborah Elizabeth Finn & Woody Hancock stood out for me.How is Harvard the best university in the world? What was the best before Harvard?Funny enough, I failed to realize I wrote an answer in here a while back. I was reading it and thought, “What a great answer…” and then realized it was me. I know this sounds conceded, but maybe there are people who think alike and they are just us, but in a different time. :)Here are some of the details that add to my answer above:How about for starters the place where two of the richest people alive dropped out from?Ok, if that's not good enough, how about the place our most recent president graduated from? (And his wife, the flotus).Being the first institution of higher learning (in the United States) back in 1636, it had a head start on the rest of the colleges and universities that would follow suit. Being such, it could recruit the best professors, the best admin and frankly, the best students as well.From then, it has gone on to have the following amazing people build their brand even more:T. S. Eliot, Poet; Nobel Prize in Literature winner (1948)John F. Kennedy, U.S. PresidentMasako, Crown Princess of Japan, Consort of Crown Prince Naruhito, the first son of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko; member of the Imperial House of Japan through marriageKenneth Chenault, CEO of American ExpressDavid Rockefeller, Banker; philanthropist; Chairman of Chase Manhattan BankBan Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nationsand these are just a handful of the many others including:Harvard's alumni includeeight U.S. presidents,several foreign heads of state,62 living billionaires,335 Rhodes Scholars,242 Marshall Scholars,150 Nobel laureates,18 Fields Medalistsand 13 Turing Award winners have been affiliated as students, faculty, or staff.Harvard's $37.6 billion financial endowment is the largest of any academic institutionIt operates several arts, cultural, and scientific museums, alongside the Harvard Library, which is the world's largest academic and private library system, comprising 79 individual libraries with over 18 million volumes.Source: Harvard UniversityThe Harvard University page has even more details about their “amazing library”:The Harvard Library—the largest academic library in the world—includes 20.4 million volumes, 180,000 serial titles, an estimated 400 million manuscript items, 10 million photographs, 124 million archived web pages, and 5.4 terabytes of born-digital archives and manuscripts. Access to this rich collection is provided by nearly 800 library staff members who operate more than 70 separate library units.It has the 2nd lowest admissions rate in the United States behind Stanford (and possibly in the world, if you just count what is reported).Supposedly they’re generous to their students:…generous financial aid program, with over $160 million awarded to more than 60% of our undergraduate students.An argument could be made for their online initiatives like:HarvardX is a University-wide strategic initiative, overseen by the Office of the Vice Provost for Advances in Learning (VPAL), to enable faculty to build and create open online learning experiences (free, low-touch, high-touch) for residential and online use, and to enable groundbreaking research in online pedagogies. To date, HarvardX has engaged more than 90 faculty across 10 schools, producing more than 60 open online courses with 3 million global registrants. On-campus, HarvardX has supported nearly 20 blended courses, convened 225 individuals (faculty, undergraduates, graduates, technologies) in developing content, teaching, and conducting research, and built new educational tools and technologies. A leader in advancing the science of learning, HarvardX has produced more than 95 related research publications and produced two major benchmark reports on MOOC learner demographics and behavior.Source: Harvard at a Glance | Harvard UniversityThese are just a few reasons…(p.s. I personally don’t believe it’s the best institution in the world, but that’s because I have different ideals than what I feel they espouse. At the same time, it’s definitely very impressive and there is no doubt that someone who not only gets accepted, but graduates from the University [or college] deserves a bit of respect. Nevertheless, a college does not make a wo/man…it only attempts to provide her/him an education and possibly a strong network.)And here are a couple other threads about the topic:Is Harvard still the best university in the world?Why do so many people want to go to Harvard? What can Harvard offer that other universities cannot?And for some silly, but a few legit additional reasons why it might be the best, check out this post over at College Confidential, they listed over a 100 reasons why go to the University:1. Cambridge/Boston2. Prestige3. best for South Asian Studies and Sanskrit (my personal reasons)4. Awesome Ivy League goodness (1st college in America)5. duh, Elle Woods went there6. I look darn good in crimson7. You can go to Estonia and people will know what Harvard is. lol but seriously, its true8. Conan O'Brien9. The people.10. The exposure/different opportunities.11. The fact that you can do ANYTHING here. Literally. (Providing that you can find time in what is guaranteed to be a rather packed schedule for most people.)12. Natalie Portman, lol13. New England attitude....love it!14. PHENOMENAL art museums right on campus.15. Um... because along with all of these, it's actually a pretty good college?16. The House system17. Connections18. Annenberg Hall: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~memhall/images2/annen1.jpg19. Math 5520. Living in the same dorm that John Adams and John Quincy Adams did21. Roland Fryer (Prof. in Economics Dept)22. work hard play hard mentality23. Opportunities for an Edward Gorey experience24. The Harvard Lampoon25. For the Money (for the presence and future).26. LIBRARIES! BOOKS! BOOKS! BOOKS! OLD BOOKS! ANCIENT BOOKS!27. Sanders Theater: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~memhall/images2/sanaudg.jpg28. To actually park your car in Harvard Yard the day you move in29. The incredible glass flower exhibit:The Fragile Beauty of Harvard’s Glass Flowers, The Journal of Antiques & Collectibles Feature Article February 200430. The Hasty Pudding Awards31. >>>>>>>>>>>TO BEAT YALE IN "THE GAME"!!<<<<<<<<<< WOOT32. Dropping the H-Bomb (except really you "go to a school in Boston")33. Adams House34. Prof. Dan Gilbert35. natalie portman gets a second vote36. Just to be able to actually write A.B (Harvard) on my resume for real!37. beautiful campus38. the Crimson39. Primal Scream40. The IOP41. the annenberg hall looks like something from a harry potter movie42. Harvard University Band43. Great Arabic program, as far as I can tell.44. The constant flow of amazing and famous guest speakers every week45. Because it's Harvard!46. Prof. Robert Langton47. The hilarious IgNobel Prize ceremony every year48. The many a capella singing groups49. The Head of the Charles50. Its a good back up.51. Pinnochio's (best pizza place in New England)52. When your professor says, "Sorry I have to miss class next week. I'm getting a Nobel Prize in Physics. You guys will have a guest lecturer though."53. Larry Summers dancing with Elisa New at the President's Study Break over reading period.54. Because you managed to get in!55. The Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra56. FOP57. Because it rhymes with success58. awesome commencement guest speakers59. clam chowder60. Cause second best just won't do61. HARVARD SOCCER62. forget that, how about HARVARD FENCING, 1st place last year! =D63. Cross register courses at MIT.64. All those great restaurants in N. Boston especially Dom's!65. The Diversity66. Knowing that when you go there, you WILL become something, even if you don't feel it now.67. Museum of Natural History (Can you say "George Washington's pet pheasant?!")68. Harvard Din & Tonics (http://www.dins.com/main/music; McDonald's Girl)69. Harvard Forest (just think of all the microfauna just *begging* to be discovered!)70. Cross-registering with MIT (a repeat...I know)71. Who doesn’t want to dress up as a colonial American man for all of the football games?!72. I can slack off but still maintain a B average thanks to Harvard's Gentleman's grades policy!73. The Harvard Figure Skating Club!!!74. Because Rivers Cuomo went there.75. Being able to cross register with MIT and take a linguistics class with Noam Chomsky.76. Because you can talk for literally years about the reasons to go to Harvard.77. Because you had to sell your soul just to scrape by admissions78. Because it's not to far from RI (yay.)79. Because I just came up with a killer idea for Primal Scream! AND--->80. Because of the "3 Things to do before graduation" are awesome.81. Philip Streich class of 201382. Lou Dobbs went there83. The Boston THREE PARTY84. Because Obama graduated for Harvard Law School85. All the conversations you'll have!86. YO-YO MA!87. Because of the reaction you get when you tell people you're going to Harvard88. Prof. Jeffrey Miron (LIBERTARIAN ECONOMICS FTW)89. chess club, is it too lame? lol90. because anywhere else, you have to say, "i go to ____....it's actually a pretty good school."91. Rivalry with Yale92. Freezing Boston weather93. Within a short vicinity of MIT94. Au Bon Pain95. The Co-Op96. Harvard Forensics Tournament97. Quincy Market98. Peeing on John Harvard99. The atmosphere100. Saying "Hahvahd Yahd"101. Inspirational alumni like George W, the Unabomber and Patrick Bateman.102. To surround yourself with greatness and hope it rubs off103. To escape all those dumb jerks you had to go to high school with, a hundred of whom will go to the local univ. you could have attended instead.104. To win a Nobel Prize105. AMAZING Biomedical research facilities106. Woodberry Poetry Reading Room107. WIGGLESWORTH BABY!!!108. Science Center 24/7 pretzel parties109. To take contracts with that son of a ***** Kingsfield110. OBAMA WENT TO HARVARD!!!!!!!111. You can say **** YOU to all the people who made fun of you in high school112. Coz i wanted to lol at 111.113. The spring balls at the houses.114. The walk down garden street in springtime.115. The dining halls.116. The walk along the Charles River.117. Harvard Square never sleeps.118. The chess master in front of Au Bon Pain.119. The Harvard-Yenching Library.120. Commencement.121. Reunions forever!123. Legacy status for your kids.124. Gets you away from your HS's 2.0 GPA idiots who think they're smart as hell.125. B.c you KNOW that you are getting the #1 education in the entire US126. Because you worked your ass of to get there, so you better love the #1 school in america!!!!!!!127. Because I just read this list.128. Because I want to find a place where almost everyone I meet inspires me to push myself farther129. To know you beat out 93.1% of all 30,489 applicants (Record admissions)!130. Because we thought of 28 more reasons than were necessary. Harvard's always go the extra mile.131. Always winning the Putnam Competition132. Highest number of graduates winning Rhodes, Marshall and Fulbright fellowships133. Being able to join the Harvard network on Facebook. ;D134. We can count best (see: two reason #130s)135. Awesome course selection!

There have been several recordings of Message in a Bottle; however, the most well known is Sting, lead singer of the band, The Police.You might recognize a few of their other hits Roxanne and Every Breath I Take.I never knew much about the individuals in the band (besides Sting) so today I watched a documentary about them. I found their journey extraordinary. If you want to see their incredible journey, I posted the documentary at the bottom of the page.Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner CBE (born 2 October 1951), known as Sting, is an English musician and actor. He was the principal songwriter, lead singer, and bassist for the new wave rock band The Police from 1977 to 1984, and launched a solo career in 1985. He has included elements of rock, jazz, reggae, classical, new-age and worldbeat in his music. Sting became one of the world's best-selling music artists both solo and with The Police, winning 16 Grammy awards.Sting wasn't born as, “Sting.” Like any pop star whose recognition needs only a mononym, he was invented."Your parents name you, but they haven't a clue who you are," he told Esquire in 2009. "Your friends nickname you because they know exactly who you are."The musician, 67, knew early he wasn't Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner. But there he was on Oct. 2, 1951, a Wallsend baby in the North East England shipbuilding town that became the inspiration for his album and musical, "The Last Ship.”"I had a pretty miserable childhood, but would I want to change it? No," he said. "Childhood made me who I am, and I'm quite happy with who I am. Without my childhood, something else would've happened."His parents were Ernest, an engineer and later, the owner of a dairy shop; and Audrey, a hairdresser. In Wallsend, he could see the town shipyards from his street."My earliest memory is of the sky being blotted out by a massive ship, towering above the house," he told David Letterman in 2013. "I would watch the men go to work every morning and think, is that my destiny?"One day he and his mother were standing by the street, watching Queen Elizabeth II drive through town. He waved his little British flag and she looked at him and smiled."I knew then I didn’t want to be in the street, I wanted a car. I wanted comfort, I wanted security, I wanted privilege. And some money ... being honest," he said.So, he worked: at a handful of jobs, toward three years at North Counties College of Education, always toward music, picking up an abandoned guitar left by an uncle who had moved to Canada. It had just four strings - or five, depending on Sting's memories. Either way, enough to start."As soon as I saw that guitar, I realized I'd found my route out, my best friend," he said. "I didn't speak for four years, I just played the guitar. I saved up for the other strings."His college, now Northumbria University, lists him as one of its famous alumni: he's easily the most glamorous name on the list - rivaled perhaps only by Apple design guru Jonathan Ive, who has helped sell hundreds of millions of phones but probably can't fill an arena.Along the way, he'd become Sting."I would wear a sweater that my girlfriend had knit for me, it was black and yellow hoops. Looked ridiculous," he said on "Inside the Actors Studio." And the band thought I looked like a bee. And of course, called me Sting."The band then was the Phoenix Jazzmen, one of several groups he played with around Newcastle. With the act Last Exit, he got a gig opening for the Newcastle Symphony Orchestra, who were performing "Tubular Bells.” The orchestra was joined that night by one Andy Summers.Meeting Summers came later. It was an encounter with drummer Stewart Copeland, then on tour with Curved Air, that brought London's call."I was starving for a good many years and then I had an opportunity," Sting remembered. "I never regret those times because it gave my life some perspective. If I'd had success immediately, I wouldn't have been able to judge how lucky I am right now."Sting moved and met up with Copeland: Weeks later, Summers was tapped for a session with the pair. In the documentary "Can't Stand Losing You," the guitarist remembers hitting it off with the two younger musicians, and after a Paris concert together, he was asked to join their new band. Summers said yes, but only as their sole guitarist.Soon after, Henry Padovani was out, Summers was in, and The Police were ready. It was 1977, the year punk music exploded: by 1979, The Police would have a No. 1 UK album, "Reggatta de Blanc." Their second full-length release, but the first of many to top the charts. Their early singles, including "Roxanne," "Can't Stand Losing You," "Message in a Bottle," all became hits."Their songs are universal - they're part of all of our lives," The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers wrote of them in 2010. "You hear them on both pop and classic-rock stations, and they'll be played on the radio in Germany 100 years from now. At the same time, everything they did was really smart and worked on a few levels; you could love a particular song, then realize a year later that you had totally missed the meaning."Sting has been playing the songs ever since, with or without The Police: the band split up in 1986, only to reform decades later.As The Police’s career rose and Sting's own path had been expanding: he starred in movies from the Who's "Quadrophenia" to David Lynch's strange sci-fi adaptation "Dune." After, he took his music solo, recording albums such as "Ten Summoner's Tales," "Brand New Day" and 2016's "57th and 9th.""It's my job to sing a song I wrote 30 years ago as if I'd written it in the afternoon," Sting said. “And that’s what I try to do.”