From All Over The World...Even Staten Island

A couple of years ago, the senior who delivered one of the graduation speeches told of the diversity he encountered his first year at Harvard.

"There were people from Westchester, Manhattan, and New Jersey. I even met someone from Staten Island," he jested.

While you will probably encounter a plethora of people from all three, you will also find that many of your classmates hail from quite far-away climes and have interests that you may never have heard of. Admissions officers say that this year's class represents a wider range of interest than in previous years.

And if these randomly picked three members of the Class of '90 are any indication, than they are probably right.

"I would have applied to Harvard early," says Jennifer Brumage '89, "but I didn't know what achievement tests were until May of my junior year." Brumage, from Fairmont, West Virginia, will be the first person ever to attend Harvard from her high school and only one of five from her state in the Class of 1990.

Brumage decided to apply to Harvard because of the location and the name. "I just fell in love with the location," says Brumage, whose town's main claim to fame is having included Mary Lou Retton among its residents.

But Brumage herself is beginning to acquire a bit of fame. Two years ago she and a friend started travelling around the country, giving "motivational programs." Entitled "You're Extra Special" (YES), the programs attempt to help schools, businesses or organizations boost their morale.

"It's a motivational program for personal excellence which is geared towards the individual. You have to build your enthusiasm to enthuse the people around you," says Brumage.

YES seminars have taken Brumage and her friend to Nevada, Texas and they will soon travel to Philadelphia, she says. But Brumage says that she does not know whether she will continue the program when she comes to Harvard.

She may opt to put YES on hold for the summer and concentrate on adapting Harvard's form of student government, the Undergraduate Council. Since she has had so much experience and the Council is only four years old, she says, "I will try to be a source of direction for it."

As for academics, Brumage says she plans to major in Economics and French, or maybe Government. But she adds academics maybe tough because she is not as prepared as other students.

From the Mountains to the City

Another freshman who will also not be accustomed to such a demanding schedule is J. Drew Colfax '89. Colfax has never gone to a formal school and was educated at home by his parents along with two younger brothers and an older brother, who will be a senior here in the fall. "Harvard is the first time I'm going to be in a classroom situation," he says.

Colfax who lives on a ranch in Boonville, Ca. with his family, says that for the past five years he has only studied what he wanted to, concentrating on astronomy and biology. His astronomical studies took the form of a building a telescope and observatory while his biological studies were manifested in his hobby of breeding sheep.

"The formal classroom situation will be a big change. I'm not used to having set times for everything," he says. "On the ranch we would study 12 hours a day if it rained and on other days not at all. I have to prepare myself for the structured rigid schedule that will be thrust upon me."

Planning to major in biology at Harvard, Colfax says he also hopes to row lightweight crew. Accordingly, he is learning how to swim this summer. so he can pass the swim test.

While both Colfax and Brumage hail from the country, Deepak Bhargava '89 is a city boy. Born in India, Bhargava moved to the New York when he was a year old. However, he still wants to find his Indian roots, and it was Harvard's Sanskrit and Indian Studies Department that convinced him to choose the Harvard over other Ivy Leaugue schools.

Despite wanting to study his native land's culture, however, Bhargava says he plans to major in history because of his political interests. In the halls of Manhattan's Hunter High School where he went to school, Bhargava says he was known as being "Kind of up on Third World issues."

His reputation for political knowledge earned him a spot as a panelist on a Public Broadcasting Service documentary featuring Alexander S. Haig, former secretary of state. One of five high school students on the panel, Bhargava concentrated some of his questions on the subject of constructive engagement in South Africa.

Bhargava spent his free time last year as an intern at Africa Report, a magazine devoted to stories about that continent's politics.

For now, Bhargava is working at a library and working in the homes of terminally-ill AIDS patients, doing laundry and buying groceries for them. When he comes to Harvard, Bhargava says he hopes to continue his interests in the area of South African politics, joining the Southern Africa Solidarity Committee (SASC), the pro-divestment group on campus.