"A whale ship was my Yale College and my Harvard"

Herman Melville's quote is a reflection of his experience as a sailor on a whaling ship. He is comparing his experience to that of participating in a distinguished university. He is recommending that his time invested in the ship was just as important as attending a university. He is implying that the knowledge he got from his time on the ship was simply as important as the knowledge he would have acquired from going to a university. He is also suggesting that the abilities he discovered on the ship, such as navigation, cruising, and whaling, were simply as crucial as the skills he would have discovered in a university. He is suggesting that his experience on the ship was just as important as attending a university, which the knowledge and abilities he gained from his time on the ship were just as crucial.