A Friendly Guide to Blocking

Putting blocking groups together is scary business. Common concerns seem to center on issues like the idea of living with casual acquaintances, blocking with your entryway and wondering whether your roommate's boyfriend will be as much of a nuisance next year as he has been this year. Unfortunately, there are so many factors to consider that at least a few are bound to be overlooked.

Attempting to find the perfect combination of people is futile; however, each of us believes that it can be done. Sadly, there are many casualties in this pursuit of blocking bliss. Current roommates are divided; space fills up, and friends are left in the cold; offers are rejected. We feel additional pressure with the advent of randomization, as we frantically try to come up with a complete blocking group of 16 in a desperate attempt to avoid being exiled to the Quad.

Life was so much simpler when we could count on the Freshman Dean's Office to give us a home and a couple of roommates. Now it's up to us to find our own niche at Harvard, and the prospect is terrifying.

As we scurry like lemmings to find blocking groups, some important issues surface, not the least of which is friendship. Most of us didn't come to Harvard with a built-in set of friends. We had to start over. September 9 was the day I realized how long I've known most of my friends from home, and how long it took to build those friendships.

After having been here for only five months, I find myself unable to rattle off a long list of people who really know me. There are some--my current roommates, a few people I've gotten to know through sections, my entryway--but not 15 close friends of mine who are also friends with each other. However it ultimately comes together, my blocking group will be experimental. There are no guarantees that everyone will be able to live happily together.

Now that we have to think about who our friends really are, it becomes evident that we are asked prematurely to decide who we want to live with. I'd feel a lot better turning in blocking forms during reading period or finals week. March seems so early; there are too many what-ifs. What if the members of the blocking group despise each other by May? What if people forge new friendships after blocking groups are set in stone? What if couples break up after they decide to block together?

There is also a certain blocking etiquette that must be followed. Although its rules are tacit, they are common knowledge and part of the accepted procedure. There are three basic components of blocking etiquette, or Blocking Commandments, if you will:

1. Thou shalt not invite another into the group without first consulting those who are already in the group.

2. Thou shalt not retract a blocking offer once it is given.

3. Thou shalt not refuse a blocking offer without profusely explaining and apologizing.

To violate one of the Blocking Commandments is simply bad form. Unfortunately, strict adherence to these rules eliminates an easy escape from awkward blocking situations.

There is, however, a way to avoid all the potential unpleasantness associated with blocking groups. Don't block, just float. It is a simple solution, but it requires a solid constitution on the part of the floater. Very few of us have the courage to assert our independence in that way, to put our faith and our future happiness in the hands of fate. Or is it chance?

Either way, floating is even more frightening than blocking with people you don't really like. At least you have the security of knowing the people you live with. Floating increases your chances exponentially of being assigned to the Quad and of being the one person to complete a group of fifteen. I know someone who's planning to float. It seems he didn't want to offend any of the three groups that invited him to block with them. He's a brave soul. I wish him well.

At this moment my own blocking situation is sketchy, at best. I know I have somewhere to go, people to live with, but none of it is certain. There are others like me out there--anxious, confused and content to live in their freshman dorms forever. In fact, I'll probably end up blocking with them. But right now, the dreaded blocking preparations have been weighing on my mind even more than the week's worth of neglected reading that awaits. Oh, the agony.

Harvard asks many difficult things of first-years. We have to chose courses and decide on a concentration. We have to make responsible decisions and act like adults. We have to suffer through Expos and pass the QRR. Although these tasks are all challenging, they can be done. But putting together blocking groups? Please, be reasonable!