Super Seniors in Home Stretch

For the majority of students who entered Harvard in the fall of 2001, last spring marked the conclusion of four years of study at the College. A small portion of the would-be Class of 2005, however, will bid farewell to Harvard in January.

Members of the Class of 2005 who returned to school this fall for an additional semester are just now celebrating the end of their theses and the completion of their undergraduate careers.

“I feel mostly like a 2005 class member come back to finish my thesis for three months,” said David W. Rizk ’05, who is an English and American Literature and Language concentrator.

Because these “super seniors” remain at Harvard after most of their class graduates, they must strike a balance between remaining loyal to their original 2005 classmates and assimilating into the Class of 2006.

“It definitely feels like I don’t belong just because hearing all my friends talk about their jobs, it’s odd to be the only one still talking about classes and the dining hall,” Victoria E. Wobber ’05 said. She also pointed out that the absence of her class has made a large difference in how many people she recognizes in walking around campus.

Carolyn A. Daly ’05 and Wobber chose to walk with the Class of 2005 last June, while Rizk will attend his graduation next year. But all three chose to formally identify with the Class of 2005.

Rizk—a super senior in Quincy House—said that Harvard feels largely the same to him this semester, even though the majority of his class is gone. He effectively took a semester off for academic reasons involved with studying abroad during the spring of his junior year.

Wobber said while her friends in the Class of 2006 have been kind and inclusive, she still misses having her own “group” of friends at the College.

Daly, an Adams House resident, said that being at Harvard without her friends from ’05 has helped her strengthen her relationships with other students. She has also remained active in House activities.

“I keep connected with the House playing IM’s, eating with people in the dining hall, etc.,” she said.

Though the three seniors have theses due this month, they all said they have no grand plans to celebrate the conclusion of their time at Harvard right now.

Daly said she hopes to do “something ritually cleansing with the piles and piles of paper I have amassed on the subject [of my thesis],” but that she did most of her celebrating in the spring with her ’05 friends.

She also said that graduating from Harvard is a different experience from saying goodbye to her friends.

“Now as I think about leaving I am really sad,” Daly said. “It’s funny because my sadness about being separated from my classmates and leaving school happened at distinct times so I know each exists on its own...It’s interesting to see that I will miss just being at Harvard.”