. . . and I’m kicking myself for it. Advice from me, a senior who’s finally caught on? Harvard offers a lot of AMAZING resources, connections, and overwhelmingly cool shit. Don’t be afraid to use all of it!
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IMs
I would like to qualify this statement really quickly by saying that I am IN NO WAY athletic. Watching me do the sporting is, even for myself when I catch my shadow, painful. I run a lot to stay in shape, but my knees are crisscrossed with scars from how frequently I trip on those runs. I duck whenever balls come at my head. And I’m so bad at even cornhole that most of my bean bags end up hurting random passerby. So I’m TERRIBLE. But IMs? Still really really fun. I played my first IM soccer game this year and was SO impressed by how much of a great time I had. I got to meet some new people in my house (it’s about time I learn the names of the people I’ve been making awkward-dhall-eye-contact with for three years), yell a lot, and sweat for free! Sure I ended up with a few bruises and had a handball the one time I got close to the action, but it was so much fun. And a good workout. And a lot cheaper than a Barre class. So please, go out and try IMs. Don’t be a senior like me realizing you love them and missed out on four great years of high-quality chirping and clueless running back and forth after a ball.
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Faculty Deans
Plot twist: these old people in my house are actually awesome! This year I finally balled up and went to a house tea, where I met my faculty deans amongst swirls of piano music and tons of yummy snacks. They were really nice, and they didn’t even shun me for never coming to one of their teas before (I was a little scared of that happening). After chatting with them, I learned they have a whole room full of board games in the basement that anyone in the house can borrow and play at any time. I LOVE BOARD GAMES. I intend to live the rest of college years year flitting in and out of their back door for Scrabble or Monopoly or Catchphrase. I’m generally crushed I missed out on this awesomeness until now though, so don’t make my mistake. Go meet your faculty deans ASAP.
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People Who Are Literally Paid to Listen to Your Problems
This is a really important part of Harvard I 100% ignored until the second week of this year. I figured, “my problems are stupid” and also “They have better things to do” and also “ew no I won’t talk to you that stuff’s personal” and most importantly, “IF I TELL SOMEONE WHAT I’M FEELING THEY’LL CATCH ONTO ME AND KICK ME OUT OF SCHOOL FOR BEING AN ADMISSIONS MISTAKE”. If you’re feeling those things, I feel you. But don’t worry — they’re all totally wrong! The hordes of people here at Harvard who are payed to listen to your problems are paid to listen to your problems. It’s literally their job. They have nothing better to do, and if they do that’s their issue — not yours. So puhlleassee do not spend four years totally lost in your classes and social life and feeling sporadically insane. Don’t feel like you have to figure things out and make all of your decisions by yourself. Go talk to everyone here on campus, from proctors to advisors to peer counselors to academic counselors to that friendly homeless guy on the corner of the Harvard Bookstore (his name’s Allistor) to TFs to TAs to Directors of Undergraduate Study to Professors to Seniors who seem to have their lives together to the random adults who hold obscure positions in the OSL to the admissions office to that section kid who used to be really annoying but now that you’re tipsy looks like the perfect person to cry to on the shuttle. ALL of these people are here to talk to you. USE THEM. They will make your life so much easier. It’s not embarrassing, it’s not weak, it’s not a waste of time. Once you graduate, no one is going to actually want to listen to your problems. Monopolize on this crazy wonderful opportunity now.
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BSC
This one kind of rolls off of number three, but I felt the need to make the Bureau of Study Council it’s own bullet point. The BSC is actually so helpful, and I’m very mad I didn’t catch onto that until this year. They have counselors you can meet with one-on-one (note: when you call the number to book an appointment it’s like calling a super-spy hotline, but they aren’t that weird once you get there) who will give you advice you didn’t even know you needed. Sure, you can do all of your work without their assistance . . . but why would you? The advice their academic counselors give is so stupidly wonderfully helpful. Not calling them means that you’re living a life way that’s difficult than it has to be. On top of academic counselors, they have peer tutors who get paid to walk you through your homework, at no cost to you. And if you go there to just sit and do homework? They have free cookies! So yeah, you should go study at Five Linden. And before senior year, if you’re smart.
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Librarians
It took me until the crest of my thesis to realize that doing actual research doesn’t have to be a miserable process. Harvard has a staff of probably the world’s best librarians waiting for you to make research appointments with them and let them work their magic. After struggling in an endless pit of mediocre scholarship, I finally met with a librarian and was able to target my research, save my time (also my mind hehehehe), and turn my thesis from a ball of abject failure into a half-formed idea I’m proud to be nursing. Meeting with a librarian is comically easy, and saves an unimaginable amount of time and effort. And you do not need to wait until you’re writing a thesis to hit them up — librarians are gems of magic you can use for even the most basic expos paper. So do it — go to Widener, find one, and sigh in immense relief:)