Before donning suits and leather briefcases for the grind of the nine-to-five, the Class of 2000 had one last chance to party.

For the last two weeks, most seniors have been free from all obligations, enjoying a welcome stretch of free time.

Some spent the time making the rounds of Boston bars. Others attended official senior events--the Booze Cruise, the Last Chance Dance, the Champagne Brunch, the Clambake.

Some seniors were a bit more creative, heading out of town for a good time. A few went as far as Europe and Morocco, while others explored the outdoors but stuck closer to home.

Eight Women in the Woods

Last Sunday night a group of senior women gathered in Quincy 604 to pack for their three-day, two-night camping trip to the Green Mountains in southern Vermont.

With a full-size tent set up in the room and plastic bags full of oatmeal strewn all over the floor, the group packed at a leisurely pace, excited to be ending their senior year with a familiar experience.

"We started off senior year with a hiking trip," Anne C. Tsai '00 said. "It's nice to start and end the same way."

Tsai and her four roommates had gone camping at the beginning of the year, while the other three women were joining them for the first time.

Ilana N. Kurshan '00 said she, too, joined the trip for a sense of closure. She began her time at Harvard by participating in the First-Year Outdoor Program (FOP), a weeklong hiking trip for first-years.

"I started with FOP," she said. "It's nice to have that symmetry."

The women offered different reasons for taking the trip.

"Yeah, I'm psyched," Tsai said. "It's such a good excuse to eat lots of high-calorie food."

"I think it's going to be a good experience to be away from Cambridge for a little while and reflect on our four years here," Dolly Bross '00 said.

But Kurshan, perhaps, summed it up best.

"I love being outside and it will provide much scope for the imagination," she said.