Word: finlayson
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However, reports from Harvard undergraduates indicate that missions are, in the words of Finlayson, "very positive, strengthening experiences." Carter agrees, saying that after his mission he felt "more secure" about himself and about Harvard. These four reached highly similar conclusions in their definition of a successful mission. Carter, who fulfilled his mission in Bangkok and Campang, explains. "I would define a mission as successful if the missionary's understanding and appreciation of other people grew and if he changed some lives for the better...
Before his mission in southern Italy and Sicily. Cameron Carson '84 thought that success could be measured in numbers of converts; after several months he realized that personal growth was a more likely yardstick. Finlayson concurs: "Even if I hadn't taught anyone who converted, it would have been a success just in terms of the broadening of my own horizons." Reported conversion rates are impressive in any case: they range from 20 (Carter) to 50 (Beck...
DIFFERENCES AMONG the returned missionaries' sentiments surfaced primarily in their attitudes toward Harvard. Finlayson, who grew up in a California town in which his was the only Mormon family, reports little difficulty in adjusting to Harvard life as a freshman. Beck, on the other hand, was shocked and disconcerted by his introduction to the college: on his first night in Cambridge he saw man lying in the street "with blood spurting from both arms," and on his second night he chanced upon two male students kissing on the first floor of Weld. Carson, who grew up in Boise, Idaho...
...missionaries differ in their initial reactions to Harvard, so do they report disparate experiences of their return to school after completing their missions. Finlayson found readjustment very difficult: His friends from freshman year had become seniors during his absence, and the need to concentrate on exclusively personal goals clashed with the missionary emphasis on outward-reaching aims. "Sometimes I find myself questioning the value of what I'm doing here," he admits. Carter agrees: "The problems with getting used to Harvard again were partly cultural and partly not being a missionary anymore." Beck alone reports a smooth transition from missionary...
Academic as well as personal reactions to the interplay between Harvard and the missionary experience vary. By chance, Finlayson had taken Historical Studies A-14. "Tradition and Transformation in East Asian Civilization: Japan," with Edwm O. Reischauer during his freshman year, so when he learned that he was to fulfill his mission in Japan, he was enthusiastic. Before the mission he planned to concentrate in the physical sciences; now he is an East Asian Studies major, specializing in Japan. Beck too changed his concentration--from Sociology to Sociology and East Asian studies--as a result of his missionary experience. Carter...