Harvard’s lasting effect
At the beginning of fall, before my new classes picked up speed, I sat down at my computer with a simple goal: to see if I could, from memory, write down every class I had taken during my previous three years at Harvard. While my favorite classes immediately came to mind (as well as some of my least favorite), overall the going was pretty slow. After about 20 minutes, I had formed a nearly complete list. There were two classes — one from sophomore spring and another from junior fall — that I had to look up from my student record. I was somewhat surprised and a bit sad that this process had taken so long, and that a few of my classes lacked any accessible memories. As September went on, I became very mindful of each new class I attended, with the same questions running through my head: What would I...