Before I dive into this, I should say one thing: the Harvard Independent (a fun, hilarious rag I was briefly the president of) is and always will be far better than the Crimson. Someday, they will have a solid digital archive, and I will be able to search for my name as easily as I have for this post.
The Harvard Crimson is special. Whenever they quote you, they follow your words with your full name, including your initials, and your graduating year. I get the class year bit—it helps you, a first-semester freshman who still reads the Crimson, see how far through the Harvard tunnel story subjects are (and, occasionally, to see when professors, administrators, and public figures attended Harvard). But the middle initials are beyond me. When I was a first-year freshman and my compatriots still read the paper, my double initials made them think I was some fancy little scion. (That’s not the case.)
For shits and giggles, here are the five articles that the Crimson quoted me in. They really picked some winning nuggets of Past Gary wisdom.
Visitors to the bog were struck by its beauty. “It was a sea of red and white and pink berries,” said FLP freshman representative Gary D. J. Gerbrandt ’14…
The bog tourists were informed that the cranberries sit on a bed of peat moss all year and will be covered in sand over the winter to protect the produce from the elements. During fall, harvesters flood the bog with water, Gerbrandt explained.
“I thought it was really exhilarating,” Gerbrandt said of the trip. “It was really cool to see a giant mass of floating berries. I mean, how often do you get to see that?”
“Students Voyage to Berry Bog,” by Derrick Asiedu, October 5, 2010.
“I’m pretty excited to be here. It’s a lot of fun to work in the dirt and nice to be in the community,” FLP representative Gary D.J. Gerbrandt ’14 said as he worked in the garden.
“Food Literacy Project, CitySprouts Collaborate on Area Gardens,” by Derrick Asiedu and Jake A. Weatherly, October 25, 2010.
Gary D.J. Gerbrandt ’14, a Food Literacy representative, marveled at the array of different locally grown foods.
“I haven’t really explored all the different farms,” Gerbrandt said. “I didn’t know so much food was made so close to Harvard.”
“Tuesday Market Ends for Season,” by Derrick Asiedu (who must have been on the Food Literacy Project beat!), October 27, 2010.
So how does it work for Harvard students? “Twitter lets me let my hair down,” says Gary D. J. Gerbrandt ’14 (@garygerbrandt). “I have a vague goal that if somebody is going to see my tweet and laugh at it or see it and think something, I hope that I can improve infinitesimally someone’s day.”…
@garygerbrandt: “So few people at Harvard, or so few people at Harvard that I know, have embraced Twitter. #twitteratharvard”
“#twitteratharvard and Beyond,” by Reina A. E. Gattuso, November 17, 2011.
A history concentrator with a secondary in ethnic studies, Gary D.J. Gerbrandt ’14, who now works at Bain in Canada, went through on-campus recruiting last fall along with many of his friends from various fields of study. He says he thinks consulting firms “look for people who have a diversity of interests and a diversity of backgrounds.”
“Case Study: Consulting After College,” by Amy L. Weiss-Meyer, November 6, 2014.