You Get More Than You Paid for...

WE SAW you drive into the parking lot in cars that reflected your diversity--the different colored license plates, the odd lacrosse sticks or electric guitars sticking out of the windows and ultimately the people sitting in the seats. You.

We've been looking forward to meeting you. As members of the Crimson Key, we planned your first week and now we're excited to be a part of it.

High school is over, the world is bigger now. Keep your letter jacket if you want, but leave behind old ways of thinking. Styrofoam cups are more of a crime here than kissing in the halls. People will not apologize for holding beliefs polarly opposed to yours, but they may apologize for ending a sentence with a preposition. You'll be judged more for who you are than for whom you hang out with. (Sorry.)

We feel a little strange giving you advice because we haven't completely figured out Harvard ourselves. Even as seniors, we have experienced only a fraction of the courses, extracurriculars and social opportunities here. The array is bewildering, but remember that this embarrassment of riches means that you can craft any college experience you want.

Go out of your comfort zone and find the configuration of goals that best expresses who you are and who you want to be--whether that is winning an Olympic medal or learning to knit, completing a thesis or becoming an officer of Crimson Key. (We hope these things aren't mutually exclusive.)

NEVER forget the many important things at Harvard that are not graded or evaluated--friendships, romances, public service and personal hygiene. (If your roommates ask you if you just got back from FOP and you didn't go, worry.)

President Bok stated in his speech yesterday that you will never again be surrounded by so many talented achievers. He is right; we are all achievers here, but Harvard challenges us to reassess what "achievement" means to us.

Although we'll be long gone (yahoo!) by the time you are seniors, we think you'll agree at that time that you've gotten more than you paid for--now go tell that to your parents.

Catherine I. Bekooy '91 is president, Rachel J. Cashdollar '91 vice-president and Kenji Yoshino '91 secretary of the Crimson Key Society.