These emails were adapted from the official application for peer advising fellows at Harvard.
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Hi Jason,
What are the rooms like for freshmen? I’m kind of nervous about living with so many other people. I’ve never shared a room before, so having three roommates will be a big change. I’m worried I won’t get along with them, to be honest. One of them says rap music is her favorite, and I hate rap! Plus, I don’t even know what to bring to school with me!
Oh, also, I’ve heard people call Canaday “the projects.” Is that true?
Talk to you soon,
Vivien
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Hi Vivien,
The rooms are all very different. I live in Grays, which is near the main road (Mass Ave) but not close enough to hear the traffic at night. With four roommates, we have a large common room with all the desks, a TV, a couch and plenty of moving space. Then we have our own bathroom and 2 double bedrooms. Granted, Grays is one of the best freshmen houses for room size and there is a lot of variation (you can get a single, a basic double which is usually one big room with the desks/beds and stuff on either side of the room—split down the middle, a triple where one person kind of turns the common room into their bedroom and then 2 singles split out of that, a quad like I have or even five people together—usually with a big common room and then 2 doubles and a single. The rooms are overall a lot spacier and accommodating than most colleges (I stayed a summer at Penn and I felt so cramped!).
Your roommates promise to be different than you and the only guarantee is that there will be something to learn from them. I have a 22 year old Austrian-born/former foreign relations officer in Shanghai, a skier/acapella singer from San Fran and a recruited hockey player from the local area for roommates. I don’t listen to Chinese pop like Martin does and I was never into acapella but exposure to these new things some times opens you up to music (or other things) you really like. I never listened to acapella but I went to Brad’s concert and listen to his music all the time…and I really enjoy it. And you may not have some epiphany-like moment when you love rap. But no worries. Roommates often use headphones or will be respectful when you ask them to turn down their music. Communicate honestly and politely with your roommates; they’re just as concerned about having a positive environment as you are.
For what to bring to school, you need the basics that you have now. Clothes, toiletries, stationery…a lot of the stuff you use daily without even thinking some times. The FDO (freshman dean’s office will be sending out /posting online a list of categorized, recommended items if they haven’t already).
Ha! Canaday does indeed look like the projects from the outside (and I like to call it that, too, as a rival house since I live in Grays). But Canaday is really close to Annenberg (the frosh dining hall that you will meet a thousand people in and enjoy many delicious meals), Sanders Theater (where a lot of shows and huge classes hold their events) and the Science Center (again, for classes and also for freshmen mail). The Canaday people probably save a half hour or more everyday that I spend walking in that direction, so the location is solid. Also I know the Canaday entryways (group within the house you will bond the most with) have gotten really close; there’s a sense of community that emerges from living in the ghetto together! All housing is livable I assure you!
I hope these answers help; things will turn out well and if there are any problems, there are always ways to make improvements.
Feel free to email me back about anything or give me a ring.
Talk to you soon!
-Jason
