After a year at Harvard, columnist is challenged, renewed and ready for conversation
![After a year at Harvard, columnist is challenged, renewed and ready for conversation](http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tdn.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/aa/7aaae054-2bac-50de-b489-f9ff53d3ec89/55d6606d42772.image.jpg?resize=300%2C199)
CHICAGO — My two-bedroom apartment in Cambridge, Mass., was simple. Barely 1,000 square feet, it was on the raised first floor of a courtyard building and had white walls, modest furniture and…