The Next Four Years

Yihong Ni

	College life.  These two words describe the amazing acceleration and excitement of the four years to come.  I'm a first-year student at a college in Cambridge, Massachusetts...and there are a few ivy-covered walls around here.  Ok, so I'm at Harvard.  Now don't stop here with preconceived images of "Hahvahd" in mind.  Read on and let me tell you what it is really like to be a college student, in particular, a Harvard College student.  

	Harvard's well-known name is accurately proportional to the amount and level of academic work done here.  Coursework is intense.  Material is covered at a super-fast pace.  Time management is mostly in your own hands.  Long-term scheduling is so important that there is an official help group for procrastinators, no joke.  If students want help in studying, we have to take action and find resources: professors, peers, upperclassmen, etc.  The types and levels of courses offered range widely so there is something for everyone.  Also, each student at Harvard is required to take certain types of courses as part of a Core Curriculum.  Students develop a broad knowledge base in writing, quantitative reasoning, science, moral reasoning, social analysis, literature and arts, language, history, and foreign cultures.  Not only will a student focus on a particular concentration, but he or she will have the skills and knowledge to reason in any field.   
       
	The great thing about college is cooperative learning beyond the classroom.  With so many people all living and studying together, ideas bounce back and forth all the time.  I cannot do everything or know about everything, but I can always ask someone who does know something about what I would like to know.  I won't always have the time or energy to examine all the coursework in detail, so thankfully people like to form study groups.  From peers, I learn to see a problem in different ways and to find better methods to solve it.  If you take risks to think differently or to question your own views, college life becomes enriching.  

	So what will you do with "free" time?  Free time really does not exist in college unless you choose to make it.  Any time could be free time, but striking a good balance between studies and extracurricular activities is hard.  Photography class or political protest?  Table tennis or homework? (the answer to that is obvious on a Friday night).  I make frequent trips to the Science Center computer lab for printing...and somehow end up in the student lounge for a good game of pool.  Meal times are some of the most interesting hours of the day.  Annenberg Hall is an awe-inspiring cathedral-style building where all freshmen dine (although excursions to upperclassmen houses are possible, adventurous, and delicious).  Annenberg's atmosphere is inviting for long meals and discussions.  Under dimly-lit chandeliers, seated at long wooden tables that catch the glimmer of light passing through stained-glass windows, students experience a temporary shift in time and space.  I enjoy lingering in the dining hall not only to savor those really good muffins but also to join interesting conversations and meet cool people.  

	City life and Harvard life constantly interact and make every day an exciting experience.  Sure there are frustrations and challenges to face, but when I walk along the Charles River or through the eclectic streets of Cambridge, I am glad to be studying here.  Autumn in New England is inspiring.  A blanket of gold and crimson leaves covers the grass in Harvard Yard.  Here, countless people have leave their footprints.  College is the meeting place of ideas and hopes and action.  Make the most of the next four years.