Thursday, September 11
Okay, freshmen. Today's the day to take freshman trips! That's right, there's a bike trip, a trip to Crane's Beach, a trip to the Hancock Observatory, and a trip to the Museum of Fine Arts (the last is the best bet). You'll probably have more fun if you go on your own, though.
4 p.m. Freshman seminar applications due. The trick to these is to play up your diversity on the forms without playing up yourself. The professors who teach the seminars are not easily impressed by high school types, and the more self-effacing on the application the better. And, if you don't get into one, don't let it shatter your self-esteem; chances are the decisions were made in haste or randomly. If you do get in, of course, brag a lot and feel smug that you've beat out all those other people you thought were your superiors this week.
8 p.m. etc. Party. Try not to think about classes, which start in a few days.
Friday, September 12
10 a.m.-Noon Loeb Drama Center introductory meeting. A beautiful facility, the Loeb is worth a visit just to gawk at eclectic theater types.
11 a.m.-5 p.m. Meetings for freshmen with their academic advisers to discuss course placement. The Day approaches.
1-5 p.m. Advising on science courses and placement. Pre-meds take note. You have nothing to lose but your integrity, soul, teeth, extracurricular life, not to mention sleep. Before you enroll in a science course here, make sure you weigh the options carefully.
5:30 p.m. Reception and dinner for freshman women with women from the University community. There won't be many tenured women professors at this fest, because there are only a handful of tenured women here. Which is a pity.
8:30 p.m.-Midnight The freshman mixer. Indeed. Take 1600 raw freshmen, add one rock band of questionable talent, watery punch, shake them all around in smoky Memorial Hall, and you have three and a half hours of bona fide trauma, a/k/a the mixer. lowercase. You may as well sashay your way through Mem Hall for a few minutes, just so you can have something to talk about with every Harvard student, Freshman and upperclassman alike: how bad the mixer is. Also, there will be many women from other schools, presumably bused in to offset the sex ratio. But the pursuit of drunkenness tonight will prove far more fruitful than the pursuit of happiness. Head downtown and explore some less rarified haunts.
Saturday, September 13
More freshman trips--to the Boston Harbor Islands, along the Freedom Trail, a geology field trip, and an architectural tour. Sleep off the hangover, and skip the trips.
4-6 p.m. You are most cordially invited to tea with Presidents Bok and Horner--half of you, anyway. Push your way through the throngs to get a close-up look at your heroes. They will not remember your face, or your name; they may preside over Harvard and Radcliffe, but they are partially human. Skippable, unless you fear that you may never get that close to them again. Your fears may be justified. The Fogg is a nice place to stroll and muse, too. The rest of you will have to wait with baited breath till tomorrow.
8 p.m. "Love Story," projected at the Science Center. You can engage in some projections of your own: maybe you too will one day enjoy a romp through the snow in front of Emerson Hall. At the very least, you will come close to being killed by a maniacal Boston driver a few times in your college career. It's a good thing Erich Segal teaches at Yale; he's just one more object for derision.
And so ends the journey of a born-again Harvard freshman known as Freshman Week '80. You will emerge somewhat wounded, somewhat perplexed, and somewhat strengthened. No matter how harshly your illusions are shattered, however, you will emerge. And you will have reached the end of the beginning. Lots of luck