Word: socialism
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Chess, even for novices, is essentially a social game and has been for the millennia humans have played it. People play chess in front of Au Bon Pain in Harvard Square on warm summer nights as much for the company as for the game itself. Indeed, for the vast majority of chess players worldwide who don't play professionally, chess' social dynamic is the game's purpose...
...three-dimensional world. It will be amazing to see l,600 merit scholars fan out, like light through a prism, into a class with jocks, nerds, class clowns, artists and every other teenage demographic. Some poor souls will even join the Harvard Lampoon; a semi-secret Sorrento Square social organization that used to occasionally publish a so-called humor magazine. In order to find where you want to go in this fanning-out, you will need people to argue and laugh with. And the best time to find these people will be your first year...
...hefty phone bills. Plus, You might as well start exploring the strange world of Harvard relationships as soon as your arrive. If you wait until February of your first year to break up with Alissa or James, you'll be overwhelmed when you finally venture out into the Yard social scene. Harvard's dating pool is inundated with bitter, post-reading-period dumpees on the rebound and dumpers "not yet ready for a relationship...
Harvard students are a strange, strange breed. Basically, the admissions officers go through the applicant pool each year and choose the 2,000 students most likely to make a mark on the world. Some of these students may also possess well-developed social skills, but that's really beside the point. Most of your classmates will be determined to succeed at any cost--a noble precept in itself, but not one that makes for a warm and friendly social atmosphere...
Chances are you are one of these driven eldest-or-onlies. But never before have you been surrounded by throngs of those just like you, and never again will you find yourself in such a unique social environment. Unless you take a step back to examine Harvard from a distance, to acknowledge the sheer weirdness of the whole thing, this kind of "unique" can seem like a very bad thing. For instance, it's easy to get discouraged with Harvard's social life. Some first-years are lucky enough to land in an entryway full of friends who feel like...