For "Harry Potter" star Emma Watson, who had already earned more in childhood than most people make in a lifetime, college was an opportunity to be like everyone else.
Prior to entering Brown University in Providence, R.I., in the fall of 2009, Watson told Teen Vogue: "I'm doing this because I want to be normal. I really want anonymity. I want to do it properly, like everyone else. As long as I don't walk in and see, like, 'Harry Potter' posters everywhere, I'll be fine."
There were no posters or autograph-hounding fans. Nor was there any truth to earlier reports that Watson was being heckled with "Harry Potter" phrases like "Three points for Gryffindor!" when she answered a question correctly in class.
But after 18 months, Watson made the decision to leave Brown because she realized that she is not like everyone else.
"I was in denial," the 21-year-old actress told the U.K.'s Sunday Times Style Magazine recently about her decision to drop out. "I wanted to pretend I wasn't as famous as I was. I was trying to seek out normality, but I kind of have to accept who I am, the position I'm in and what happened."
Poor Emma, she is better off doing online classes. At least then she doesn't have to worry about being famous.
