Sophomore year at Harvard is a season of big transitions as you move from dorm life to House life, start thinking more seriously about your future, and watch your friendships stretch and evolve. 

It’s exciting, but it can feel stressful and overwhelming. So, here are a few lessons I learned about finding community sophomore year, that I hope can help others going through the same thing.

Keeping Friendships Strong Across Houses

The truth is, during sophomore year it’s very likely that your friend group, or at least some friendships, will change from freshman year, and that’s completely okay. People grow, schedules shift, and everyone starts finding their own rhythm. Often, a big worry coming in is, “What if my friends and I end up in different Houses?” but trust me, it’s not as scary as it seems. Most of the River Houses are only a 2–10 minute walk from each other, and even if you’re in the Quad, the shuttles run all the time. The key is being intentional. My friends and I, for example, plan monthly movie nights in my House’s screening room. We hold each other accountable to show up, eat snacks, and decompress together. We also do everyday things together: we meet up a few times a week to study in dining halls, House libraries, common rooms, House grills (Dunster’s is my favorite), nearby cafés, or one of my go-to spots, Smith Campus Center. One thing that has helped me so much is using Google Calendar for everything, including scheduling time with friends. Putting hangouts on my calendar helps me to make time for friends even when life gets busy.

Making New Friends in Your House Community

Beyond staying close with your current friends, sophomore year is a great time to make new ones. Coming into the year, one of my personal goals was to meet more people. I actually felt like freshman year made me a bit more introverted than I usually am, just because I was adjusting to a place so different from where I grew up. However, by sophomore year I felt more settled in, so I wanted to open up more as Harvard has really cool students. One of the best ways to do this, in my opinion, is through your House. The Houses are designed to build community, and they give you so many natural ways to meet people. My House, Lowell (the best House), has all kinds of amazing amenities: a gym, dining hall, art rooms, common rooms with pool tables and TVs, and more. Spending time in these spaces, especially at the start of the year when everyone’s still meeting each other, made it easy to start conversations and make friends. As someone who loves cooking, I’ve even made friends just by hanging out and cooking in the House kitchen. Then there are the House events. In Lowell, one of my absolute favorites is Lowell Tea. Every Thursday, our Faculty Deans, David Laibson and Nina Zipser, host it at their place. Student workers bake delicious desserts, David and Nina make tea, and it’s all completely free. The first half is just for Lowell students, then it opens up to everyone from any House. Trust, I’m there every week trying whatever new desserts they have. We also recently had an international food night, where cultural student groups shared dishes from their traditions. That’s definitely been one of my favorite events this semester. More broadly, most Houses also have recurring events like steins a couple times a month, where the House Committee throws free parties with great food, music, and a chance to relax and meet new people. Each House also has tutors, often grad students, who are there to support with career advice, academics, and just life in general. They often host study breaks with snacks/food so students can, well… actually take a break from studying and interact with people in their entryway. All of these spaces and events make it much easier to put yourself out there and build new friendships during sophomore year.

Hopefully what you take away from this is that, even though finding community can feel daunting, there are so many ways to build new connections and stay close to the people you already care about. And as cliché as it sounds, try to go with the flow, things have a way of working out in the end.