One of the biggest traditions at Harvard is Housing Day- the day you get placed into the house that you’ll be living in for the rest of your time at Harvard. There are 12 houses you can get housed in and the exciting part is that it’s a lottery. I remember Housing Day being one of the most memorable moments of my first-year experience (and I highly recommend you take a look at some video blogs covering it).

My roommates and I got housed in Lowell House (whispers: the best house if I say so myself, but I am biased) and it’s been an amazing experience so far. Most houses also have something called “overflow housing” which is basically an apartment that isn’t directly in the house but very close to the house. Lowell’s overflow housing is an apartment called Ridgely, which is located on the street right in front of Lowell House.     

Having lived in Ridgely for about 6 months, there are some definite pros and cons to overflow living that I’ve experienced.    

Pros:  I love that my roommates (2) and I have a kitchen and bathroom en-suite that we can use. We often use the kitchen to bake cookies as well as cook up some food, especially when it’s cold outside and we’re feeling too lazy to walk outside. Our kitchen is pretty stocked up on food so I get to chef it up when I’m feeling like it.  We have an elevator! (No more words needed).  We’re right on top of Insomnia Cookies (this might be both a pro and con). Every time I walk into my building, I get to breathe in the delicious smell of cookies.  Because there’s not a lot of people living in Ridgely, we all get fairly close, especially since we see each other around a lot in the elevator/stairs.    

Cons:  When it’s raining or really cold outside, walking to the Lowell dining hall feels like a whole expedition. I usually end up cooking in my dorm instead.  I don’t really see that many people who are living in Lowell house just because I’m rarely in the house due to the distance. However, Lowell has tea every Thursday, which is where everyone in the house comes together to catch up over tea and cookies, so I see a lot of people there.    

Overall, upperclassmen housing has been such a special experience. I have loved the feeling of autonomy and community that comes from living in a house. As Housing Day is coming up, I’m looking forward to welcoming new members of the Lowell community.