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Page 11 text:
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The information they had was almost neg- ligible. A green book, a strange room number, and a vague idea about academic and social life at Harvard. From all sections of the coun- try they had come, unaware of the experiences that waited them, uncertain of their ability to meet the challenges of the first year at Harvard. Actually, the first contact came months before. Of all the college applications, Har- vard's was perhaps the coldest, the most for- mal. lt had somehow conveyed the impression that Harvard could get along without any one particular man, that Harvard wanted the best. Thus, there was a feeling of pride when one morning's mail included the coveted letter with the Cambridge postmark, containing an ac- ceptance. Friends, relatives, and even the girl next door learned soon after that Harvard had been founded in 1636, and they took a new- found, somewhat personal interest every time their eye caught Harvard's name in a news- paper column. The summer was one prolonged feeling of satisfaction in being able to answer people's questions about What next fall? with a grunt of Harvard - an answer which, attempted with casualness and sincerity, usu- ally came out awkwardly. Finally, vacation was over, and the Har- vardman label had to be earned. Some were better prepared than others, though there were few who really knew what to expect. The freshman from New England knew best perhaps. Having lived within travelling dis- tance, he had seen the Yard and was aware that its physical beauty was of a peculiar kind, to be appreciated only within the context of its history and traditions. These had run through his mind already, and he had spoken with people who had attended Harvard before he finally took his principal's advice that there really isn't any comparison. And so, accom- panied by several others in his graduating class, he came to Harvard, familiar at least with the Cambridge subway system, and per- haps with a little more. The New Yorker was a special breed. To him it was a new experience to hear the hard R's of the midwestener, or the slow drawls of southern classmates. This he found was an essential part of a college education, despite possible preconceptions that only New Yorkers know what civilization is. Strangely, it was less difficult for him than most to adjust to the citified Harvard atmosphere, since he had come from the largest metropolis. Harvard Square was iust a miniature Times Square, and the noise of traffic and trolleys was hardly noticeable. Then there were those from further away who with their geometrically designed ties, were unaware that Harvard would be a new experience socially and culturally, as well as intellectually. Most of the people from west of New England had been more iocular and louder, and the comparative reserve and pro- priety that New England, especially Harvard, presented were new, unexpected. The section of the country from which the freshman came tells only part of the story. The half from prep school, had already ex- perienced some of the intellectual exercise that Harvard's courses require, and had boarded for several years among others whose ambi- tions were somewhat similar to theirs. These could manage freshman courses a little easier, at first, than those who had been subiected to the assignments of public high schools. Yet essentially all were new at the game of being freshmen, and when the Dean welcomed them as men of Harvard, the sense of pride at being so addressed was accompanied by a certain curiosity as to what the next few months would bring. Once over the initial shock of learning that the monstrosity at the edge of the Yard was really Matthews Hall, the freshman gradually learned where things and places were. The long white pillars of the Widener Library as- sured him that he was at least headed towards F. Skiddy von Sfode, Jr., Dean of Freshmen
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Page 12 text:
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the Union and breakfast. By the time the freshman had properly placed Memorial Hall and the Coop, he had a feeling of satisfac- tion that maybe Harvard wasn't so big after all. Academic red-tape took most of the first week. Although a poker game with next-door neighbors and a quick discovery of Scollay Square occupied a few evenings, most after- noons and nights were spent in placement exams, meetings in Sanders Theatre, or in learning from the Crimson Key just what the Pierian Sodality was. Roommates began to emerge as personali- ties, not just as strange faces, and serious problems such as who would sleep on the bottom bunk were settled without much fuss. The janitor, a new friend, obligingly gave a helping hand in the search for another chest of drawers, and when Mrs. McDougall came for the first time to make the beds, the fresh- man was very pleased that she tucked in the sheets just as had been done at home. Before long, new faces appeared around the Square, and the freshmen became aware that, down by the river, on the other side of the row of stores, were Eliot, Winthrop, Dun- ster , . . There the upperclassmen, fresh from summer work and play, were running to and fro, moving furniture and lounging by the Charles. He wondered if he would look like that in a year or two. The meeting with the freshman advisor was a memorable, if somewhat puzzling experience. PTIKNINH' 1' -1 . 342 fic 1- m' SM ff'-'S Zigl-
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