Chapter 2, Harvard and After Summary and Analysis

Henry David Thoreau starts school at Harvard in September of 1833 with a feeling that he is not quite as educated as others in his freshman class. He is embarrassed about his homemade clothing, his country habits, and the fact that he doesn't have much money to spend on luxuries and extras. In addition, he is a shy young man, and not nearly as confident as more privileged students.

No one can be certain if he enjoys the picturesque university because he does not comment on it. This seems to surprise the author because he mentions many other famous writers who have been mightily impressed by the quaint school, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oliver Wendell Holmes and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

To pay for his schooling, Thoreau makes pencils and picks wild berries during the off season...