The wrong degree from the wrong college

The worst questions then are the ones you should be proud of now.

When I first got into this biz, networking dinners would go like this.
(clinking glasses, dull roar of idle chit chat)
”Would you like a drink?”
Yes, liquid courage, rocks
“Dressing for your salad?”
Side of shame please

While the bread was being broken, my imposter syndrome was rising. Someone would try to make conversation with the question you ask a recent college grad. “So Stacy, where’d you go to school?”

And there it was, my worst question at the time.

In a whisper mumble, I'd say, ‘A state school in Connecticut.’
“UConn?”
'No, a small school in my hometown'
“Oh”
*awkward silence*

The topic would change, but I’d be stuck there. Hitting rewind on my own shame tape.

Here’s what I know now. Where you go to school doesn’t determine your success, your net worth, your happiness. But as a young female who graduated from what was a "commuter college" with a degree in literature and found herself in an industry filled with older men - Harvard grads, elite Ivy leaguers - who all majored in economics or finance, it wasn’t enough. I wasn’t enough.

Little did I know the thing that made me different was part of what made me special. It gave me power. I paid for school myself, worked three jobs, lived at home, played college soccer, won awards for writing. It stoked the fire that still burns inside me today. I can say this now with pride:

“My name is Stacy Havener. I went to Western Connecticut State University. I have a bachelor’s degree in English Literature. I’m a female founder in finance who has raised billions of dollars and I’m just getting started.”

Advice to my younger self: Never snooze on an underdog.