"The other day one of my best friends asked if I felt ready to graduate. I think what I’ll miss most about Harvard are the rituals with my friends that have built up over my four years to make this place more of a home than anywhere else. I’ll miss the Friday night pit stops at Clover for their whoopee pies, the afternoons in Gato Rojo after lecture, the late night walks home from the IOP, and the casual dinner conversations that have left me unexpectedly inspired. So come May, I think I’ll be ready to graduate, but mainly because these moments have created relationships that will continue to be nourishing long after we leave."
Keyanna Wigglesworth
"My favorite Harvard memory is meeting with Dean Dingman and other administrators of the Freshman Dean's Office to discuss ways to improve Community Conversations. As someone who participated as a first-year and later helped to co-facilitate as an upperclassman, I was interested in exploring ways that we could better support and promote dialogues about identity and inclusion, especially when students are first entering our community. It was really refreshing and cathartic to talk about my experiences with Community Conversations with other students who had similar experiences and then brainstorm with administrators on how we could make some much needed changes."
James Walter Duncan V
"Favorite memory: At 12 one winter night during blizzard Nemo, our class participated in the largest snowball fight of my life in the yard. People built forts around trees for hours and everyone started tackling each other. It was magic."
Laura Trosser
"My favorite memory is Tealuxe: vegan banana muffins, almond rooibos, white peach black tea, orange echinacea."
Rugsit Kanan
"My favorite Harvard memory was back in early freshman year. I had the chance to sit down with my friends from FIP in Harvard Yard and we talked until 2am discussing our excitement and our nervousness for what's ahead. Three and a half years pass by like a blur and seeing how everyone has grown is inspiring."
Rachael Hanna
"Here's my memory to go with it: I think what I’ll miss most of all is the ever-present possibility of discovering something new. New friendships, mentors, classes, intellectual passions – you can stumble upon them at any moment in the most unexpected ways, and so very often you find that after these discoveries your life is never quite the same."
Johanna Lee
"It was at Harvard that I began my love affair with life. I discovered beauty in the mundane, joy in introspection and human connection, and liberation in the sense of infinite possibility."
Maria Smith
"It’s those unplanned meals—the ones that know no place in my calendar— that make me feel most alive. I will always treasure walking into the dining hall with a book in tow and quickly realizing how silly it was to even think of reading alone. Within seconds I’m surrounded by friends. We’re discussing the merits of grape pizza, unpacking the vocabulary of section kids, or trying to figure out which life lessons I missed in my embarrassing disinterest in Harry Potter. It’s these uncalculated, incredibly revealing moments that make Harvard feel like home."
Danielle Feffer
"It feels cliche to say that I'll miss spending time with people I care about, but that's the first thing that comes to mind. I'll miss rowing on the Charles in the fall, and I'll definitely miss not having to cook for myself too."
Kenny Lei
“Harvard has always been a dream to me, and I never expected to call it my home. I wish I could hold on to all the amazing times spent with friends and friends to be, from intellectual conversations in the dhall to goofing around at the Kong after late nights.”
Arifeen Rahman
"My favorite memory is sitting in the Winthrop dining hall all day and losing track of time. Having incredible friends and tutors filter through with fascinating conversations that make the hours feel like minutes."
Aya Tange
"Harvard is a roller coaster ride. Before you get on, the line is long, the excitement builds, one part elation, one part trepidation. When the ride starts, you're overwhelmed - you just want to get off. But when you survive the first few harrowing twists and drops, you realize you'll be able to make it to the end. All of a sudden the ride jolts to a stop. You get off, happy it's over, but sad to think you won't be surrounded by all the great people you've met over the past four years. You look to see other kids waiting in line. It's their turn now. I'm ready for my next ride."
Naomi Lang
"In my 4 years at Harvard I have usually been in one of 3 states of mind. The first is me wondering how in the world I ended up here. The second is me questioning whether I'm going to survive here. And the third is me feeling so grateful and happy to be here. What's special about graduating is that even though my time at Harvard is ending, that third feeling will never leave me."
Jordan Weiers
"My favorite memory is being pushed on a freight cart through the street in front of the MAC at 3 am by Brianna Suslovic while moving her out."
Joanna Weng
"All the energy, excitement, ideas, opportunities, and people have opened my eyes to the world, influenced my perception of life, and redefined me as a person. There is nothing I would change about my memories here at Harvard -- I only wish we had time to make more!"
Jenai Akina, Gabbie GIugliano, Nancy Liu
"For the past four years, we have lived by the philosophy: never let your roommates be lonely. Instead, barge in and disturb them at all times."
Lily Lin
"For better or for worse, my time at Harvard has shaped who I am as a person today. In the last four years, I have felt every emotion I can think of and have realized that I am both stronger and weaker than I think I am. The biggest part of my Harvard experience has definitely been growing and building with the Harvard Breakers. As President my senior year, I have realized how much I am indebted to this organization for allowing me to spread my love for dance by teaching new people and hosting jams. Thanks Harvard!"
Cary Williams
"My favorite memory at Harvard is the day I turned in my thesis. Not because I had finally finished the project, but because I was overcome with the feeling that the work was not only mine, but the work of all the people who had come into my life at Harvard and loved and supported me here. I will never forget the feeling of holding that binder in my hands and reflecting on the many hours of conversation with my advisors and mentors, endless iterations of chapters, and late night chats with my closest friends who surrounded me with their positive energy. It was one of those moments in which I had to stop and think about how the people I've found at Harvard have helped me to discover and grow into the best version of myself."
Gianina Yumul
"I'm going to miss early mornings in the Yard. Sometimes, I feel so small when I walk through, and feel confronted with the weight of this place's history and my place in it as a small, brown girl, and the first in my family to set foot in a place like this. Other times, I'll feel butterflies at the sheer beauty and promise that I've found here. The eager tour groups, bedraggled students coming back from all nighters, and the quiet confidence of brick buildings - I'm going to miss this."
Stella Tu
"What I'm going to miss most about Harvard are those spontaneous late night dhall chats about faith and friendship and really, the stuff that actually matters in life, stuff that kept me up into the early morning hours without even having touched my work, but left me going to bed still thinking about it and feeling content that I had truly thought."