A major change occurred when Hersey was ten: His father became ill with encephalitis, and the family returned to America and settled in Briarcliff Manor, New York. Hersey became thoroughly "Americanized" during his adolescence. He attended Hotchkiss Preparatory School, where he worked as a waiter and janitor. His undergraduate years were spent at Yale University from 1932 to 1936. Graduating from Yale, Hersey continued his education on a Mellon Scholarship at Clare College, Cambridge University, where he studied eighteenth century English literature. At both Yale and Cambridge, he worked in various jobs as a waiter, librarian, lifeguard, and tutor. Hersey never experienced a life of privilege, and it is possible that the jobs he held while attending college gave him a sympathy for the "common man" that would later show up in his writings.
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