I would never advocate for someone to stumble into a living arrangement, but that is exactly what I did when I decided to live with my closest friends today. It has been one of the best decisions of my life!

Reflecting on my greatest college experiences, I can hardly think of any that do not include my wonderful block mates. Whether supporting them in their dance and art shows, apple picking in Western Massachusetts, or simply grabbing breakfast, they have been more than I could have ever asked for! I could not ask for better people to share my college journey with. My gratitude for their friendship is magnified tenfold when considering where they come from. It was highly improbable for us to find each other, yet here we are living amongst each other; sharing our formative years.

You may now be asking, "What is a blocking group?" Before Housing Day (the day first-years find out what upperclassmen house they will live in), first-year students choose who they wish to live with for the next three years. First-years can choose to block with as many as eight students (including themselves) or just with themselves. Leading up to Housing Day, I did not know if I would find a group to live with. I had initially planned on living alone. Coming into college, I was far more comfortable on my own and I was stubborn in my belief that it would stay that way. I loved studying, working out, and exploring Boston on my own. Fortunately, my Harvard experience led me to grow increasingly extroverted. Just by talking to my peers and roommate, I found a deep interest in their pursuits. Talking to fellow students also made me realize that they are just like me: Harvard students navigating their world putting aside time to befriend people amid their busy schedules. Once I realized this fact, I found a deeper appreciation for the friendships I had been making throughout my first year at Harvard. We did not just happen to be having a conversation, we were making thoughtful acts to know each other on a human level.

Selecting my blocking group was more mundane than one may think. My roommate had asked me if I wanted to join a blocking group with him as if it were a quotidian question. My response was similarly ordinary, "Yeah, sure." The response was not indicative of my apathy at living with my roommate again. We had been living together for six months before he asked me to join his blocking group, and it had been the best living arrangement. We were both studious, energetic, and curious people with a shared understanding of how to live together so it became almost natural for me to respond in a relaxed manner. The truth is, I was more than happy to continue rooming with him given our great living arrangement and the time we spent with each other. 

Once it was agreed upon, my roommate did the bulk of the work to form our blocking group. He contacted mutual friends, who he knew better than I did, who would be interested in joining a blocking group with us. Eventually, he found six friends who were eager to join. I was not too engaged in the formation of the blocking group, but I was confident that my roommate chose a solid group. Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, and China were all represented in our blocking group of eight and each person was a gem. We formed a group chat, had dinners, and speculated on what the next years of our college lives would look like with each other in it. It almost felt like the world was incapable of holding us back with how much we were thinking about the future. When Housing Day came, our future was realized when we were assigned the best house on campus: Pforzheimer House!

From there, you may now be asking, "Why is a lone American living among students who came from thousands of miles away?" Truth be told I never really thought about the fact I was the only American. All of us being Harvard students, the topic of nationality never dawned upon me as a considerable factor in my friendship with all my block mates. Rather, the fact that I happened to stumble into this blocking group of international students only magnified our friendship. We were all so eager to learn about each other, our countries, and cultural exchange. Every day felt like a way for me to explain American history to my friends, learn about life in East Asia, and try foods I did not know existed! I was constantly surprised by their insightful questions about my life in the U.S. and explanations of Asian customs like the Lunar New Year. Notions never challenged, and ideas never explored in the U.S. were all subjects of conversation. My being the sole American representative in this friend group was just a funny coincidence made even more humorous when one sees that 84.7% of the Class of 2026 is American. It is a coincidence we now make jokes about when reminiscing on how we all became friends. The probability of us forming this group was slim, yet it happened. For that reason, I can only think of the existence of our friendship as a blessing.

So although I cannot fully endorse doing things without proper planning, keeping yourself available to the spontaneity of life can expand your horizons to places you may have never even conceived of. If someone had told me before college that I would live with seven international students, I would have called you a liar. In retrospect, nothing better could have happened to me than a simple "yes," to living with my block mates.