"I like being connected to the younger class," says Adam D. Colvin '00, a prefect in Thayer. "I know people in the freshman and sophomore class and I like helping them adjust."
"I remember being a freshman," he added. "It was hard."
First-years usually appreciate the efforts put in by older students, acknowledging that busy schedules can be difficult to manage.
"I think it's a pretty big time commitment," Chen says. "I'm sure it's a pain in the butt."
But coordinators say the program has a high retention rate. Prefect Program Director Sam Herring says 85 to 95 percent of eligible prefects return for a second year. A considerable number even choose to stay on, serving three years as a prefect.
"It has been gratifying to watch the program grow better-organized and more effective in each of the past several years," Nathans says.
Cathrin M. Bauer '00 was a prefect last year, and decided to return for a second tour of duty. She says her goal, like Colvin, is to help first-years make the adjustment to college life as smoothly as possible.
"We try to focus on making the entryway a community," Bauer says of her visits to Holworthy West.
Prefects agree that their role is an important one in helping to strengthen the Harvard first-year community.
According to Colvin, prefects should "relax the incoming students, take the pressure off and help them adjust."
Social activities planned by prefects range from the traditional weekly study break to trips into Boston for dinner and sightseeing. In many cases prefect efforts focus on turning otherwise mundane events into unique affairs.
Bauer has taken her prefect group ice-skating and out to dinner. She says one study break around Halloween even featured a haunted house. Other innovative ideas include holding study breaks in the most unlikely of places.
"My entryway is known for its off-the-wall study breaks," says D. Cody Dydek '02 of Matthews Hall North.
Off the wall, and into the shower. Dydek says that his evening shower was once interrupted by his proctor group when--lead by intrepid prefects--the group decided to storm the bathroom as an innovative study break.
Students themselves have also used creative license in planning study breaks and other events.
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