Opening Doors

In high school, I used to dream of my college days with eagerness and hope. Oh, how I longed for the times I would spend sipping tea with my professors or discussing world affairs over a sandwich at lunch. Life would become one big journey of philosophizing and intellectual discussion with some of the greatest minds of this century, who would (after a few minutes of enlightening discourse) inform me that I was the brightest student they had ever met and that I would go on to one day do many great and brilliant things.

Then I entered college and woke up. I discovered that I had been tricked into believing that invitations to tea and lunch would magically fall into my lap, that the most memorable part of college was the interaction with great minds rather than the interaction with alcohol, and that the direction I was to take in life would be a clear one as soon as I met the right people who would tell me just exactly what it was that I was supposed to do. The truth of the matter is I’ve barely had a cup of tea with most of those great intellectual minds, let alone a tantalizing intellectual conversation. And, the other truth of the matter is, I blame no one but myself.

At Harvard, there is plenty of reason to complain. Contact with professors is, at best, generally limited to brief visits to office hours or one House faculty dinner per semester. While these interactions can be highly enjoyable, they are a far cry from the weekly lunches that I had once envisioned in my pre-college years.

But Harvard is not the only school with problems, and it is certainly not the institution alone that should be blamed. As I realized from my time at UCLA, it is especially difficult to have any contact at all with professors at large public universities, and House dinners simply do not exist.

Of course, that’s not to say that there aren’t other schools that do a far superior job to Harvard at fostering interaction among students and professors. One of the advantages of attending a small college like Williams or Amherst is that professors assign and grade all assignments, lead discussions, and interact with students outside of the classroom on a regular basis. At Williams, 40 faculty members and administrators are even habitual members of intramural sports teams.

There are several things the Harvard faculty and administration could do to improve relations. Individual departments could designate space for students and professors to interact in a more casual and relaxed environment, similar to the existing graduate student lounges. Houses could, in addition to the faculty dinner each semester, offer less formal events more frequently—such as monthly coffee or dessert hours. And, of course, professors themselves are more than encouraged to invite students for a little stimulating conversation every now and then.

But, though each of these options might prove beneficial, they still don’t address the fact that the only person I really blame for my failed magical interactions is myself. We as Harvard undergraduates have more than a few times been designated as future world leaders. So why, one might ask, is it so difficult for us to take a little initiative in our undergraduate careers? We have worked hard, but we have also had many things handed to us on a silver platter and served with a side of caviar. Unfortunately, that’s not exactly the way the real world works. If we expect to make something of ourselves in the future, we better start by learning to take action now rather than simply crying out in complaint.

One might begin by attending office hours for reasons other than to go over a paper due the next day or to get help on a frighteningly hard problem set. A former Princeton professor once told me that students used to knock down doors to speak to professors during office hours—that lines would overflow into the halls. At Harvard, however, a common complaint is that students often feel too intimidated to visit professor’s office hours considering how far behind they are in the reading or how little knowledge they have of the actual course. So, do a little reading! Or, go talk to your professor about something other than the course itself. A professor sitting alone in their office would probably welcome a friendly face and some light conversation. And, if you happen to find one professor who doesn’t, I’m sure with a little persistence you’ll find another who does.

Sure, an invitation to tea or an interest in our intramural teams every now and then would be highly appreciated. But like much else in this world, if you really want something you had better be willing to put in a little effort, take a few risks, and make it happen with or without anyone’s help. Though much of college presents itself to us like we’re living in a fairyland inaccessible to the outside world, the need to take initiative is just as real here as it is anywhere else.

There’s a common saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”. Harvard has given us a few lemons. It’s our turn to squeeze them for all that they’re worth.



Jillian N. London ’07 is a philosophy concentrator in Adams House. Her column appears on alternate Wednesdays.