Quote

Maybe I was accepted to Harvard only because of my tennis skills, since I definitively had no great academic achievements. I was 17 and only thought about surfing and playing tennis. I had almost never left Rio de Janeiro and had never been to the United States.

Harvard was the most intimidating experience. I felt so out of my league there.

If I were to listen to people all the time when they say, 'Hey, this is a really high challenge, this is a high climb, the bar is pretty steep,' then I wouldn't have gone to the academy. I wouldn't have become an aircraft carrier pilot. I wouldn't have become a Navy SEAL for sure. And I probably wouldn't have applied to Harvard.

I would have been miserable in college. I always hated school.

In truth, I did enjoy the benefits of a Harvard connection.

One thing that used to worry me is the fact that it seemed like Harvard was this big scary thing where I would have to spend all my time studying just to get in. But getting to go to both campuses of Harvard and Oxford and getting to meet some of the professors was absolutely amazing.

I was one of those dorky kids who'd wanted to go to Harvard since the fifth grade.

I went into Harvard one way and came out a different person... It's the air at Harvard; it's like a Renaissance court.

I picked Harvard because it was in a big city, and a lot of girls' schools were nearby. And I liked President Kennedy, who went to Harvard.

There's probably people that go to Harvard and say, 'Listen, I went to Harvard. I got a great education, and I can't find a job, or I didn't become the success that I could have been.' Sure, I mean, you probably have that at every major university.