What is gender-inclusive housing like at Harvard?

Choosing to live in a gender-inclusive suite was one of the best decisions I made at Harvard thus far. First-year students at Harvard almost always have to live on campus, except in very rare extenuating circumstances. The summer before the first year, Harvard requires students to submit a great deal of information, and one decision you have to make is your living arrangement. Once the First-Year Experience Office receives these incredibly detailed housing forms, its staff spend most of the summer matching roommates together by hand. One specific decision first-years must make is whether or not they are interested in living in a gender-inclusive suite.

Gender-inclusive suites were already part of the upper-level housing system at Harvard, but first-years had not previously been given the opportunity. I decided to opt-in for gender-inclusive housing because I wanted to meet and live with the most diverse group possible, and I believed gender-inclusive housing would make that more of a reality. 

To this day, I cannot imagine what my first-year would have been like without my roommates. I had four roommates, three males, and one female, and while my story is just one of many, I believe it is a story worth telling. I was lucky enough to have seen our suite in Weld the day before move-in because I was part of the Fall Dorm Crew. The next day, we all met and we started our first-year together. 

Our suite had three singles and one double. During the first semester, I lived in a double on the top bunk. I was nervous to live in a double on the top bunk at first, but it was a great experience. My double-mate Kevin and I got along so well, joking around all the time and sharing stories with each other. As the semester progressed, our roommate bond grew stronger. We would walk through the Yard or into Annenberg, spot each other, and excitedly wave or surprise each other.

Rice nights and ramen nights became rituals that could not be completely fulfilled without everyone present. The day before winter break, as I switched from the double to the single, we moved everything while playing Christmas music and celebrating the end of classes. Throughout the semester, we ate poke bowls and Zinneken's waffles together and ventured to CVS at midnight for snacks. No night felt complete until everyone was home. The guys felt like brothers I never had, and Jenn is one of my best friends. 

Coming back from winter break, I was recovering from ankle surgery and still could not walk. My roommates were there with me through it all. From helping me get my laundry to carrying my plate at Annenberg, they never hesitated to help me and I would not have been able to make it through that time without them.

When March 10th came along, and students had to depart the dorms early due to the pandemic, the hardest part was knowing that these were the last few days of living with my roommates. We had been there for each other through it all. From surprise birthday parties to failed midterms and emotional breakdowns, we had each others' backs. This time was no exception, and we made the best of the last days we had on campus together. We took all the pictures and videos we could, trying to compress two months into the remaining three days we had.

Those days made us grow even closer, knowing they were our last as first-year roommates. Then we all said goodbye. We went our separate ways, shedding a few tears at our dorm and then at the airport.

Now we have been apart for eight months, but we have not let the distance keep us from each other! When virtual Housing Day came around, much to our surprise, four out of the five of us were in Adams House! Considering that of the four of us in Adams, we were in three separate blocking groups, we were very surprised. (Colby, the odd one out, is now in Currier, so he will have to get on the shuttle to see us.)

Every 27th of the month, we Zoom so we can catch up on what has happened in the past month, make jokes about the frozen eel that was in the fridge all semester, and so Colby can check if my foot is still numb (a running joke ever since my ankle surgeries).

While these may be some inside jokes that probably sound ridiculous, they are parts of my Harvard experience from my first year that always made me smile, laugh, and feel good. My year was a roller coaster of emotions, as I am sure it was for everyone, but my roommates made it so special and they will always be one of the most salient parts of my first year at Harvard. If this story made you smile, then it fulfilled its purpose because that is how I feel as a Harvard student who had the opportunity to meet these wonderful people and that feeling is what I aim to share with the world.