In years past, FM has picked 15 seniors to profile. Two years ago, it was the 15 coolest. Last year, "cool" masqueraded as "interesting." This year, when the five of us sat down, we came up with some long lists--of our own friends. Anyone we could pick, would be someone we at least say "Hi" to. About as far as we could go were our roommates' significant others. Were our friends really the most interesting? What about the people none of us knew?
So we dispatched our reporters to find out about 15 members of the senior class whom they'd never met. The best way to find these people, we said, was to look around. They'd be random, but then again, so are we.
photographs by matthew R. cordell
thomas k. ryou
Spotted:
watching tv on saturday at 2 p.m. after others failed to show for a meeting about an upcoming korean culture show in lowell hall.
Past
"In high school I didn't really know how to relax. I was number one in my class academically. Every minute of my day I was doing something: a practice, a meeting, studying for a test. Being so busy I didn't really have time to know and care for other people. I was very into myself. That's one thing I think I regret....I've learned to think about others instead of myself. In the long run you can get good grades and be successful financially, but the key factor in being successful in life is whether or not you've made any good relationships with other people. Ask yourself: Have I helped people along the way and gotten to learn their problems and their joys?"
Present
"I was coming from watching Saturday morning cartoons and eating my lunch. People didn't show up [for the Korean culture show meeting] so we ended up just watching the Georgia Tech-Stanford [football] game."
Future
"I wouldn't mind having a great family. I guess I'm kind of sappy in that I want a storybook kind of marriage with great kids."
leea k. nash
Spotted: Responding to an ad solicting a reply from the first senior in last week's Fifteen Minutes, Thursday at 10:07:27 -0500 (EST).
Past
"I'm from Westchester, N.Y. I grew up in Scarsdale and now I live in Bedford. It's a nice area. How do I explain this to you? I'm black, but I grew up in an all-white town. There were no other black people. It was like if you grew up without brothers and sisters. Definitely since I came to Harvard I've met a lot more black people. I did every activity growing up. I did Jell-O pudding commercials with Bill Cosby....I was very competitive in gymnastics from three to 15. I was second in the state of New York. I danced for Alvin Ailey. I had a pony and a horse. I took music lessons. I can play flute, clarinet and piano. Everyone always talks about TV shows they remember. The only show I remember watching as a child was DuckTales. I was in Miss New York when I was eight or nine. I was first runner-up."
Present
"I've definitely learned a lot more about myself and other people. I'm a very caring, loyal, giving person. My whole world revolves around my family and my mom has always taught me to be a really kind person....In my 21 years my parents have never had an argument. We don't do that. We all get along. Whatever happens, you don't rock the boat. Whatever you do. I can't change that because that's who I am. When someone's cursing at me and I could curse back, I think, 'That's just not you Leea'....I talk to my parents everyday. I talk to my uncle, aunt and cousin a couple times a week. I'll say, 'Mom. I'm just calling to tell you that I love you.' Some people at Harvard are fiercely independent. I'm just not like that."
Future
"I'm going to take a year or two off to work. I'm thinking of teaching because I love children. And then I was thinking about a more traditional Harvard career, like consulting. My real dream is to become an entertainment lawyer. But once I get married and have children, I want to stay home with my kids. There's no job that's as important as raising your own children. I love children so much....That would be my dream if my husband would tell me I could stay home with my kids. Harvard students don't understand that mentality. People think you just want to stay home because you're lazy or a gold-digger. I don't need them to support me. I'll call mom and dad."
tahlia t. tuck
Spotted: Sitting on the floor on the Coop's second level, in the career guidance section, with books spread about.
Past
"In college I've found being around different kinds of people educates me. Just as being in the classroom is important, sometimes it's even more valuable to talk to someone about their dreams or background or even their political views. For anything I plan to pursue I think understanding people will be important."
Present
"I'm trying to figure out what I'm trying to do next year. I was looking at books that break down: What are the options for a liberal arts major, what are the options for a creative person? I'm really trying to figure out which way I want to go for the next couple of years. I bought three books....I want to make sure I have some sort of personal interaction. That can be consulting, that can be on a social-work level. The thing I'm looking for is: How can I bring together my passions and interests with a job? That's what I'm exploring. I'm looking at ways to bring together my passions with potential career opportunities. For all I know I could be taking a year off and going to live with my roommate in California."
Future
"I'm hoping I will still have music in my life. I want to feel like I'm making a difference. My main social concern is race relations. I grew up around people from very different backgrounds. I hope our society is more integrated 15 years from now because I think that's the only way all these things are going to go away. I definitely would like to have a family. I would like to be comfortable but I would definitely say that money can't bring you everything. It's a balance of happiness and stability."
michelle y. m. rhee
Spotted: emerging from lamont library on sunday night at 12:44 a.m. Past
"I remember my friend who used to be president of the Advocate invited me one afternoon to have lunch at the Signet, and I had never been. So I walk there, and we are having lunch, and I am in this room with these stuffy old men. And I remember something smelling so bad, and I just could not stop thinking, 'What is this horrible smell? What is going on? It smells like crap.' I realized later, outside, after I had hugged my friend goodbye, that on the way there I had stepped in dog shit and I had been sitting there the entire time with poop on my shoes. That is the impression I made on the members of the Signet."
Present
"I think it is very ironic that I am being labeled 'the last senior out of Lamont' because last night was the first time in a long time that I have been to Lamont to study because I have all these papers due this week.
Now I am going to be known as the girl who always stays at Lamont until the end."
Future
Professionally, I think I could only really be happy teaching. It is what I have wanted to do since I was really little. I'll be poor....I want to be one of those people who when a student comes to me they are like, 'Wow, that professor is awesome!' or 'Wow, that professor really knows what she is talking about!'"
jeffrey t. bridich
Spotted: Drinking Lemon Lime Powerade (part of a balanced breakfast of eggs, a bagel, cereal, a muffin, yogurt, an apple and two glasses of juice) in Adams Dining Hall at 8:29 a.m. Saturday morning.
Past
"Last year we won the Ivy League title. It came down to the final game
in the final inning. My friend Shaquir hit he game winning hit in the bottom of the sixth inning. It was like the hero story. It was awesome. Just awesome. It was in front of the home crowd, the 25 people that were there, but it was great."
Present
"I was thinking: Why the hell did I decide to get up? Because every Saturday morning, I have the option of going to work or sleeping in. And I was sitting down with a full stomach, I just had breakfast, and I was thinking I should be in bed right now. I was probably bitching about it."
Future
"Boston is so hectic. The driving is so crazy. It's like as soon as
you get into a car you have to be an asshole. They use their horn as a
weapon. It's so different in the Midwest. People are so scared to use
their horn. But people here use their horn just to get shits and giggles.
If I had my choice, I'd probably stay in the Midwest."
john paul rollert
Spotted: Swing dancing with barefoot former U.C. President Beth Stewart in the Winthrop House JCR at 1:58 p.m. Saturday
Past
"I'm originally from Chicago, but I spent my high school years at West Catholic High School in rural Michigan. In seventh grade my family moved to a farm. We lived on a family farm that was farmed by other people. We were almost landlords for sharecroppers. I've ridden my fair share of tractors. I appreciate the scenic beauty of farms, but not the actual farming."
Present
"I was in the Winthrop JCR taking swing dance lessons in preparation for the Adams swing that night. A very good friend [Beth A. Stewart] wanted to take the class to prepare for the Winthrop formal and she's kind of tall so she needed a tall partner. I had only been swing dancing once before two years ago in D.C....I consider myself someone who tries hard. I don't think I embarrass myself."
Future
"The two things I would like to be doing are creative writing and policy work. I would be unhappy if I didn't think I could wake up every morning and I didn't have control over my life. In 15 years, maybe I'll be doing public service somewhere. I enjoy public service. It's not something I dislike doing."
lev polinsky
Spotted: Preparing for evening services upstairs at Hillel on Friday at 1:45 p.m.
Past
"I've changed a lot. First of all, politically. People who know me will find this hard to believe, but I have moved significantly to the left while I have been at Harvard, though I am still one of the most conservative people here. I showed up basically a right-wing nut, and right now I am just mainstream conservative, whatever that means. Other than that, I have become more convinced of the idea that hard work is necessary in order to achieve anything. I have realized that being robotic is not an ideal. When I came here and through most of high school, I wanted to be like Commander Data on 'Star Trek: The Next Generation,' and in the last three years I have moved away from that."
Present
"I was setting up the room for Friday night services on the second floor of Hillel, making sure the chairs were set up nicely."
Future
"My dream in life is to be able to own a major league baseball team, who is currently running one. The ambition that I have is to make enough money to own a major league baseball team; I think it is highly unlikely, but it is something to shoot for."
kenneth h. ahn
Found: Chowing down at Il Panino on Mass. Ave. Sunday night at 6:20 p.m.
Past
"I never played sports in Korea--there are no organized sports there. I started playing in Seattle and it was kind of an adjustment. My parents were used to the idea that there were two kinds of people: a student and an athlete--they were separate. I had to explain that it was part of the culture and I started wrestling and playing football."
Present
"We were at Il Panino. We [Stephen W. Ranere '00 and Joseph J. Lee '00] were taking a break from doing our work. Because it's senior year and we're recruiting and stuff, we're pretty behind in classes....We were talking about Steve's family. They make wine and we were talking about the wine process. Pretty weird."
Future
"I hope I have a family by then [in 15 years]. I am interested in the business area. I hope I'll be involved in business somehow--operating something on my own. I hope I have kids and a stable family and maintain the relationships with all the friends I have met here. And contribute positively...I want to spend some part of my life in Asia as a learning experience, and eventually, possibly on the East Coast. I had never been here before Harvard, and I think I like it here a lot. Really, it's family and friendship for me. And having a goal and working towards it. Not necessarily a career goal. It could be a family perspective."
jonathan a. russell
Spotted: At the front desk of the Loeb Music Library. December 10, 1 pm.
Past
"I usually found that in the beginning I am always into academics, but I just can't sustain it. And that's why I like music, because I can always sustain interest. Most of the other stuff I do is music....Both my roommates are writing compositions too and it's cool because we hang out and listen to operas and read through fugues together. One of my roommates is doing a composition thesis and he made the answering machine message based on a tone row in his thesis with a combination of the 12 notes of the scale."
Present
"I have been working at the [Loeb Music] library since freshman year. My proctor was the weekend supervisor there, and it was a nice, central place for me because I know everyone in the department and I get to chat with them as they're coming and going. Really, it's the only thing that remained constant while I was here."
Future
"I'd like to be writing music definitely, but you can't really make much of a living that way. Maybe I'll be teaching somewhere or teaching a youth orchestra somewhere. But the composition I'd like to keep up, but using my other music skills. I guess with not going to a conservatory school, I really missed the intense teaching aspect. Here, music is geared towards scholarship about music rather than actual playing. I would want to live in some city with interesting musical stuff going on...New York, Chicago...somewhere in Europe."
phoebe search
Spotted: Sitting at the PBHA reception desk on Friday at 1 p.m.
Past
"I changed a lot. With big capital letters. When I came to Harvard, I was very young. I had never dated anyone in high school and I didn't kiss anyone until I came to college. Like all the people who did their homework in high school, I didn't have a social circle in my immediate environment....As cliched as it may sound, I think I have really come into my own here and do what I am interested in. People do something here because they like it. Like, 'I really enjoy this.' I did opera when I came to college. I always went to operas every Sunday. I was an usher in high school and would put on my white and black and sit in the way, way back in the balcony and listen. Here, I got a chance to perform opera."
Present
"I did Peace Games and Harmony and Chance through PBHA. They helped in that they gave me faith in my ability to interact with lots of different people. I did the PeaceGames at the King School with a lot of hard-ass eighth-graders. But I also taught a sweet, silent girl the violin at the Tobin School. Those programs definitely helped in that I can relate with a lot of different kinds of people. I am one of those people who like to sit on a bench and watch people go by. I love the people at PBHA. They are the kindest, most sincere people on campus. At least you're praying they'd better be loving it--most of them spend 30 hours a week at the place."
Future
"Fifteen years from now, I'd be 36 and married, please God. I'd be a practicing therapist living in the suburb of a big city or in a good-sized city not as big as New York. Anyway, near an urban area. I'd have kids; I'd be done with kids. Three or four. The person I marry has to make me laugh. I hold a lot of stock in funny people. He'd have to be, at his core and good at showing it, a very kind and gentle person. Also because I fancy myself a kind and gentle person. I don't fancy myself marrying a banker or a lawyer or consultant. And he's gotta love my mom. It's a package deal. You can't have one without the other."
amanda j. leahy
Spotted: On a treadmill quickly walking (speed: 4.3, incline: 12) at the MAC 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
Past
"I attended a small public high school that was like one of those cheap '80s movies with a homecoming queen and a big parade. I was homecoming queen. My freshman year. And then I withdrew from the social scene. I was a competitive ice skater for 14 years and so I didn't spend any time in town. I'll go back now and see that there's no one on the streets and then find out the entire town is at the high school for the huge basketball tournament."
Present
"I have a lot of energy and I like to wake up early, like 6:30. I'm very regimented about sleep....I've never pulled an all-nighter. I just can't. I like working out for two hours. I stretch out for an hour. I swim. I take a walk. It's a very balanced workout. I feel healthy and it's part of my ideal world."
Future
"I'm going to be in Chicago. That's where my family is from and that's where my boyfriend is. We met in Union Station in Chicago the day I got back from Harvard this summer. It was very romantic. He's 29 and he's in real estate and general contracting. He's a lot more interesting than I am. He once called me from a plane he was sky diving out of. Our first date was on his motorcycle. We do a lot of crazy wonderful things....I want to travel, see the world. Florence has been flirting and teasing with me for so long."
morgan a. l. goulet
Spotted: Dancing across the Widener steps with a tuba wrapped around him, singing "To Hell With Yale" to the tune of "Oh, Christmas Tree" at 1:02 a.m. Saturday.
Past
"I was an Eagle scout. I got to do coin collecting and figure skating. I took a year off before college. I worked at a hardware store. I worked at a surgical laser factory. My job was like Zack the Lego maniac, I was the guy who puts the Legos into the box."
Present
"People are amused that we were very very drunk. And most of the time we
are very, very drunk. We switch instruments. I have no idea how to play the tuba. None whatsoever."
Future
"I'll have at least a couple of kids. My mother will be happy, she'll have her grandchildren. One of the reasons why I went into psychology was to design a house that people would have no choice but to love. Like it
would be so ergonomically perfect that you would be like oh, this is heaven....There are parts of me that want to jump out and go to Hollywood and pretend to be an actor for awhile. There are parts of me that want to sit down and write screenplays."
aadil t. ginwala
Spotted: At 2:07 p.m. on Saturday in Mather dining hall before a U.C. presidential campaign strategy meeting.
Past
"I started doing CityStep as a junior and it was kind of like my rebirth at Harvard in a lot of ways...It just reminded me how much joy kids have--how being with kids just centers your life because you remember how there used to be more important things than exams. I mean, I go work with 10- and 11-year-olds twice a week, and they have their issues, but they don't know this world, so it helps me keep my sanity."
Present
"I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off and not doing the academic work that I should have been doing. I was also waiting to start a meeting to help plan the Driskell/Burton campaign for U.C. President and vice president....We were painting a big banner, playing Bob Marley. We were trying to figure out how to involve people in the campaign and attract them to our message. 'Let's put up a big Kool-Aid man outside of the Science Center and hand out lemonade,' you know, just little things to make people's days better. How do we combat the wonderful Sterling Darling political machine? It was people who don't do politics trying to help out because we believe in Fentrice."
Future
"I don't feel that my idealism is particularly selfless. I basically want to do the Peace Corps to figure out important things about myself and my capacities. Yet, after law school, I don't want a lawyer's life--it sounds like a certain type of hell to me. I want to be able to do exactly what I want to do. There is no point in being rich if you are unhappy."
jessi j. halligan
Spotted: At the computer in the New England Archaeology Lab in Vanserg
Friday at 12:15 p.m.
Past
"I was born in Draper, S.D. on a cattle ranch. My town has less than 100 people in it. I grew up with cows and horses--it was pretty strange. My high school had 17 people in our graduating class. Coming to Harvard, it was just sheer size difference. I had never met a total stranger in my life until I came to Harvard. Or, it would be like, OK, my grandfather knows your grandfather. It's like seven degrees of separation, Kevin Bacon, but it's really like two degrees of Kevin Bacon. I guess I was characterized as a jock in high school. I played basketball, volleyball and track and did rodeo in the summers. It was normal: If you were sports-inclined, you would do it all the time. I guess I encompassed it all into one when I came to Harvard--rugby.
Present
"I wanted to be an archaeologist since I was in first grade when I read a book on Cleopatra and the pharaoh's tombs in Egypt and just thought it was the coolest thing. I only looked at schools that had a lot of archaeology classes. I love being outside. It's sort of like a blue-collar job that you have to be educated for. It combines both worlds--like a construction worker with a degree. It's a hard day's labor, but at the same time learning about people who lived a long time ago and recreating stories about people from literally thousands of years ago. With tiny pieces of evidence, you can recreate the world--the feelings they had and their stories...you can facilitate that with one small fragment."
Future
"I will definitely be doing archaeology in North America. I don't know for sure where. I hope I will still be in the field. Eventually, maybe I will go back and be an academic. What I really like is field work....Hopefully, I'll have some kind of permanent residence somewhere with a couple of dogs and a couple of cats and hopefully a horse if my budget allows it. I want to be somewhere at least an hour outside a major city. I grew up somewhere so remote that I don't want to be that near any highway or city. Up on a lake in Northern Michigan--I don't really care whether it's prairies or mountains, as long as it's not a city....I'm pretty much happy with anything at anytime, so it's hard to say. I guess if I can look back at what I've done since college and been of some use and done something with my life...and not have 15 years pass without ever realizing 15 years had passed."
aaron s. montgomery
Spotted: Pressed up against a mirror at the Grille on Saturday night, scoping out the scene, before heading back to the Fox club for initiation.
Past
"I'm from Detroit originally. It's a different type of place, very blue collar. It's the hair capital of the country. We have more hair salons on every corner and more car dealerships than any city in the country. People are really into how they dress and how they look. To a formal in Detroit, you would wear a red suit with white gloves, a red hat, red gator skin shoes and a pinky ring on the outside of the glove. You might have a gold tooth. One of the clubs I used to hang out at was called Chickenwing. The owner's name was Chickenwing and he used to have parties called Chickenwingthangs. That's my environment. I was always selling things. My first job, was one where I was selling cars. I learned how to sell from guys like Chickenwing. I was dressing like Chickenwing from the time I was eight."
Present
"So here I am at the Grille hanging out with the Fox guys. The thing I love about my friends is that I can let it all hang out--nothing I say is off limits. There's a nickname that I've taken on, almost like an alter ego: $wank. It was tagged on me by my blocking group. I'll introduce myself as Aaron, but a friend will come up and say you didn't go through four years of $wank school to be called Aaron. The first definition of $wank is smooth with a swagger walk. OK, fine. The second definition is showy but at the same time endearing, kinda like my grandfather. I'm a little bit of the Hollywood type....I'm the Playboy on-campus rep. You get a party budget, you hand out T-shirts to see what the mood is on campus. The idea of Playboy is party; it has nothing to do with women. It's like I'm an unpaid journalist. I've never given in names of pretty girls, that's pretty sketchy."
Future
"I'd be really content when I can get paid for shooting the shit. I want to go into sales....I'll be happier when I can be a rainmaker, when my job is to make friends and to have connections....Personally, I can only see the professional side of my future. I can see myself with grandkids but no kids. The in-between part in kind of hazy. I just want to be where the action is--Chicago, N.Y., L.A."
