Back at her dorm in Straus, Droege found herself helping out several male classmates in her entryway with their first loads of laundry.

“I don’t think any of them had ever done laundry in their life,” Wren R. Droege ’14 said. “‘Can I put my socks in the washer?’ ‘Where does the detergent go?’” she recalled them asking.

Mateus C. Falci ’14, however, said he was not afraid to admit that he needed to call his mother in order to determine what items of clothing he could and could not put in a dryer.

THE PERFECT STORM

For some newcomers, it was the weather in the last week that proved most challenging.

“I’m from California. I’m not used to the humidity at all,” To said. “This is the first time I’ve been drenched in sweat.”

“Apparently, I brought Florida weather up with me,” Falci said. “Not only is it hot and humid, but there’s also a hurricane coming.”

Despite the new difficulties of college life, some freshmen are still finding little gems of encouragement to pull them through their first weeks.

To, for instance, found a housewarming gift from his mother in the mail—Ritz crackers, a favorite snack.

“My mom mailed me Ritz crackers because she was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to get them here.”

For other freshmen, simply the knowledge that they were here on campus as college students was a welcoming feeling.

“At some point during convocation, I think I got chills,” Falci said. “I realized how fortunate I am to have this opportunity to be here.”

—Staff writer Xi Yu can be reached at xyu@college.harvard.edu.