From Sundown to Sunrise, Room 13 is There

7 p.m. The day has begun to wind down for most people. The sun has set, and the white steeple of Memorial Church contrasts strongly with the dark sky. For two Room 13 counselors, however, the night has just begun. These two students will be on duty for the next 12 hours, offering a warm place and an open ear to all who drop by.

Open from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. seven days a week, Room 13 is an all-night source of support and counseling for Harvard undergraduates. "It gives people a place where we can help them listen to themselves," says Deborah C. Cohen '86, one of the program's two co-directors. One man and one woman sacrifice their sleep every night to staff the basement office in Stoughton Hall, providing a referral service to other agencies and listening to and talking about people's problems--serious or major, important or not.

"The whole variety of life gets reflected in the calls we get," says Cohen. Thirty student counselors deal with such wide-ranging subjects as contraceptives and eating problems, rape and suicide, sexual harassment, cross-cultural problems, and death. "We can be very serious or very casual," says Cohen. "We're not going to drag a problem out of a person, but we're there if somebody [has a serious problem]. They can walk in and start crying if they want to, and we won't be shocked."

"We've always had the idea that we'll talk to anybody about anything the want to talk about," said George N. Postolos '86, the other co-director. "We don't give advice; we don't feel we're qualified to judge situations. We're [just] offering students someone to talk to," he says, describing what he calls Room 13's "philosophy of counseling." Postolos says that counselors try to get people to think about alternatives and "what they think about those alternatives."

"It's hard to find someone who can really listen to you."

11 p.m. Most students are back in their rooms by now. The room at Room 13 is furnished with old sofas and overstuffed chairs. There is a serviceable if not beautiful pale green carpet, and a New York poster hangs on one wall. The exposed pipes overhead let visitors know that it's a basement, but it's not uncomfortable.

Room 13 hasn't always been in Harvard Yard. When founded in the spring of 1971, the program actually occupied room 13 at Mather House. It retained the name Room 13 when it moved to Stoughton Hall in 1976 for greater accessibility.

The first counselors dealt especially with problems revolving around drugs and the draft--two issues that Postolos called "signs of the times."

"There was a need for students to be able to talk to students about things going on on campus," says Cohen. "There was a lot of distress between students and the administration and any sort of professional counseling." She says that Room 13 helped fill the void created by the reluctance to get professional help in the early '70s.

Nearly 15 years later the nature of the issues Room 13 deals with have changed, Cohen says. "We see more relationship issues," said Postolos, "more issues specific to the Harvard environment, such as academic or rooming problems."

"The times were different (back then)," says Room 13 supervisor Suzanne Repetto. "The whole political and economic climate was different; student needs reflect what's going on now." A senior counselor with the Bureau of Study Counsel, Repetto has been a supervisor for seven years. The five Room 13 senior counselors--two from the Bureau of Study Counsel and three from the University Health Services--oversee and support the work of the counselors.

Repetto adds that some things are very much the same: problems with getting adjusted to a new place, how you make friends, how you find your way around, and what to do when you're homesick.

Postolos cautions, however, against labeling problems: "Categorizing problems is against the idea that each person has a different story to tell. Someone's bringing a part of his experience to us, and it's not a neat, little package or a category at all."

When Room 13 was founded, it was the only peer counseling organization on campus. Today, there are five, including Contact, Response, Peer Contraceptive Counseling, and the Eating Problems Outreach program.

"[Peer counseling offers] an increased sensitivity because many of the counselors are living through similar life circumstances and hence can be emphatic in ways that professional counselors can't," says Robert R. Read, a Room 13 supervisor and a counselor for the Bureau of Study Counsel.

Suzanne Repetto says that talking to a Room 13 counselor is like talking to a friend. "You hope they really understand where you're coming from." At the same time, she says, students know that they're not talking up a friend's time; they have complete confidentiality and anonymity, and they don't have to worry about their problems changing their friends' images of them.

Cohen emphasizes that it's important that a person talk to another student, not just a "disembodied listener."

1 p.m. The night is half over, and there are only six more hours to go. Outside, the campus is quiet. By this time on most nights, Room 13 has received, on the average, one drop-in and two phone calls.

Cohen says that there is no logical pattern to the number of people who use Room 13. "It can be a constant stream, or it can be very little." Contrary to what might be expected, the number of calls and drop-ins don't increase during midterms or finals. "Sometimes, you're up until 5 a.m., and sometimes, you don't get a call until 5 a.m.," says counselor Stephanie R. Dickerson '86-'87.

Cohen comments that sometimes the night can be very long, and sometimes very fast. "It really varies. Each individual [visitor] can be a long, whole experience by himself, but all of a sudden, there's another [person to talk to]."

Each of the 30 counselors is on duty twice a month. New counselors are chosen in the spring, and each applicant is interviewed by four counselors. "There's a lot of interest," Cohen says. Approximately 130 to 160 students apply for 10-15 positions annually. Once a person becomes a counselor, he usually stays on until he graduates.

"I think people are reasonably self-conscious at Harvard, and they're interested in opportunities to help other people," says George Postolos. "They think about how they relate to others and how they can help them.

"I like being down at Room 13 because it's a unique environment, where I'm taking people seriously and where I'm being taken seriously. That's unique, where you can go somewhere, and there are people interested in how you feel about your life."

6 a.m. Only one more hour to go. Twelve hours is a long time. Is it worth it?

Room 13 counselors have 11 two-hour training sessions during Freshman Week every year, and groups of six to seven meet weekly for further training and support.

"When you listen to other people's concerns, it can be very emotionally draining," says Suzanne Repetto. She says that wanting to help but not being able to and being reminded of similar personal experiences can be difficult, but adds that counseling can also be "very growth-producing."

"Sometimes counseling is very draining because someone is trusting you to a great degree and making themselves vulnerable," says Postolos. "You have to listen to them and work hard at understanding and not judging. That takes a lot of emotional energy. Sometimes, it's very difficult." He adds, however, "It's absolutely worth it."

Eighth-year supervisor Nadja B. Gould agrees that counseling can take an emotional toll, but says, "It teaches [counselors] how to listen in new ways." Gould is a clinical social worker for the Mental Health Services.

"Whenever you're doing peer counseling, just by definition you're learning more about yourself," says Postolos. "When I go down there, I put my life aside. I focus on other people and listen to them. It's helped me see beyond differences in people." When you listen to someone very different from you, from a different socio-economic group, race, or country perhaps, Postolos says, "you can really accept and, in a very limited sense, begin to understand what part of that person's life is like."

Read comments, "Counselors grow in their own understanding of the variability of how people make sense of life experiences and people's incredible fortitude, going on when they're in pain."

How successful is Room 13?

"The fact of its longevity suggests it serves a very important need," says Read. Cohen agrees. "I think it's very important. It's a source of support that doesn't take much to get to and that's open when a lot of other services aren't open."

"We provide a valuable service to a fairly large number of people," says Postolos. "I know we touch a lot of people who drop down or call or participate or interview to be on the staff. I feel like we have a significant impact on at least how some of those people interact with other people."

"We try to do very little. That's why we're so successful. All we try and do is listen to somebody. There's some value in that. It's a lot easier to figure out where you are when you can talk to someone who really listens to you."

7 a.m. The sun has risen and the sky is blue. The day is just beginning for most people. For two Room 13 counselors, however, it has just ended.