Word: extracurriculars
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...volume of schoolwork would also add to current levels of depression. This view was neatly encapsulated by outgoing Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68 in a private Feb. 24 letter to Dean of the Faculty William C. Kirby. He wrote, “Extracurricular activities are, if nothing else, stress-relieving; I suspect that if the time students now spend on extracurriculars were spent instead in the libraries, we would have an even more serious mental health problem than...
Lewis’ analysis at first seems spot on. Certainly, more time spent slaving away over academics could not possibly be good for anyone’s state of mind. But, although extracurriculars may be less stressful than academics, they can often be anything but relaxing. Harvard’s mental health problem might well be more acute if students traded extracurricular time for extra studying—but it would be far better if they realized that those were not their only two choices...
...theory, of course, extracurriculars should be the ultimate stress-busters. It is hard to think of a better way to unwind from the stressful tedium of Harvard academics than by having a game of ultimate frisbee, acting in a student-directed play or scribbling a few articles for campus publications. That idealized view of extracurriculars, however, bears little relation to reality. For many students—myself included—the Harvard experience revolves around serious participation in a chosen extracurricular (or, at the most, two or three of them). Everything else, from socializing to Social Studies, takes a back...
Choosing a college based on its student newspaper may be at the extreme end of the spectrum, but a part of that attitude is apparent in every undergraduate who is significantly involved in an extracurricular activity. And that means virtually every student. (It is almost impossible to think of someone who does not participate in some form of structured activity outside class...
Given these guys’ records, both have other things they ought to be worrying about besides the Atlantic Rift. Kissinger could start with an apology, then maybe move on to 80 billion hours of community service in Cambodia. If Summers is still looking for an extracurricular to keep him busy, maybe he could take another look at the current state of the nations his policies helped “develop...