Word: upperclasses
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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When I arrived at school in September, the advice just kept on coming, now in the form of actual conversations with upperclass students. Our prefects assured us that they were there to tell us "anything we needed to know about Harvard," and students from campus groups would routinely stop by our entryway to introduce themselves and offer to answer our questions. My second week, I got an e-mail from a junior who introduced herself as the niece of the neighbor of my orthodontist's assistant. Any questions, she assured me, feel free...
...this help bolstered my confidence. I was in ahead of the game, and I assured myself that I would heed the timeless wisdom handed down from upperclass students. I promised myself I would learn from others' mistakes and would avoid making any of my own. It looked good in theory. But I've never been good at trusting other people's advice...
...that month, the Freshman Union would close its doors for good, and first-years would begin to eat in the newly restored Annenberg Hall across the Yard. Fearful that the transition from the Union to Annenberg would cause a rush on dining halls in the upperclass river houses, Quad Dining Services employees prepared a brochure--including a map with directions from the Yard to the Quad--and distributed it in the Union...
...only was the move from the Union to Annenberg historic, but the map instructing first-years on how to find the Quad was prophetic. That March, they would become the first class to be completely randomized into upperclass housing, with many more "Quadded" against their wishes...
Undoubtedly, the implementation of randomization directly impacted student life more than any event during the past four years. In the spring of 1995, while the class of 1999 was preparing to come to Harvard, the College announced that subsequent classes would have their upperclass housing determined at random, rather than by the non-ordered choice system that had been in place since the early...