There are a few more weeks until the end of the year and I still can’t believe that I am almost done with my first year at Harvard. I have experienced so many new experiences, such as surviving my challenging classes, traveling to a new country, meeting incredible people, and (somewhat) surviving Cambridge weather! As a first-generation student, I especially could not have dreamed of experiencing any of these opportunities!

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Although I will be living in Quincy House (BEST house) next year, I decided to reflect back and share my favorite experiences from my freshman year. For those who are starting to explore colleges, I hope you find Harvard to be a great option. Here are some of my favorite parts:

1)    The People

One thing I often hear people at Harvard say is how much they love the people. I guess I never really understood what this meant until I became a student and met so many passionate and wonderful people from diverse backgrounds. I truly have also met some of my closest friends at Harvard and I can’t wait to see the memories that I continue to make with them all!

2)    Professors & Classes

When coming to Harvard, I greatly feared that I would not fit in with my peers academically and would not be able to interact and connect with my professors. But, I have found this to be very wrong! I have discovered that my professors in all of my classes are accessible and friendly, as they genuinely care about my success. Most importantly, they have contributed towards my sense of belonging. And through “Classroom to Table,” a program where students are able to invite their professors for dinner, I was able to have dinner with my math TF and my two closest friends!

3)    Breadth of Opportunities

This past winter, I traveled to Brazil through a Harvard-sponsored program called Mentoring and Language Acquisition Program (MLAB). Never could I have imagined living and learning in Brazil and mentoring Brazilian high school students! There is always a new opportunity to be discovered at Harvard. I have learned that the sky’s the limit!

I am so close to finishing my freshman year, and I am so excited to be at Harvard for the next three years. I can’t wait to see what new experiences Harvard brings!

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