Housing Day, one of the College’s biggest traditions, is one of my favorite times to be on campus. House pride is in the air, and all the first-years eagerly wait to hear where they will be housed for the rest of their time here. I’ve participated in two Housing Days, as both a first-year and a sophomore. As an upperclassman living in the Houses, the experience is unparalleled!
To understand my experience, you first need to understand the tradition. Early in the spring semester of freshman year, students organize themselves into blocking groups. These blocking groups ensure that you are placed in the same house as all your blockmates. Some people block alone, and some people block with large groups. After blocking groups are created, the Housing Office meticulously places every group into one of our 12 upperclassmen Houses. During the week preceding spring break, first-years choose a blockmate’s dorm to gather in and learn their new House assignment together on Housing Day. Their assignment is hand delivered to them by screaming upperclassmen from their new House.
As a first-year, Housing Day is a thrilling experience. Students shout House chants throughout dorm hallways, and you can hear the screams of excited freshman and pumped upperclassmen all throughout the Yard. As an upperclassmen, there are more opportunities to be a part of creating that experience for first-years.
As a sophomore this past school year, I was ecstatic to welcome first-years to Leverett House. My day started in the early hours of the morning, with our House Committee setting our dorm storm meeting time at 7:45am. There were poster-making materials in the dining hall, as well as all the House merch you could dream of. Yellow and green accessories, bunny ears, and green wigs were everywhere! I was a dorm storm captain, which meant I also got to wear an inflatable green suit and lead a small group of students to deliver House assignments.
At 7:45am, Leverett’s dorm stormers headed into the Yard. Students from all the other Houses were also walking through the streets to the Yard too, and Harvard Square was really loud. It clearly wasn’t just a normal day at Harvard!
Once we got into the Yard, I chatted with my friends from other Houses. It was really fun seeing my friends in their House merch and hyped up to welcome the first-years into their Houses! Soon after, we split off into our dorm storming groups, and I received a handful of assignments to deliver. Once they were in my hand and my group was all together, we were off! We ran around the Yard for about 30 minutes, and each group we met seemed excited about being in a River House! We yelled House chants through the hallways, made lots of noise as we traveled, and made even more noise once we got to our destinations. Seeing the faces of excited first-years as we gave them their awesome House assignment really warmed my heart, and it was also great to run around and scream like a child for a few hours. The festivities made me excited to be part of my house all over again, and brought back sweet memories of my own Hosuing Day experience.
Once we completed our dorm storming, I headed back to the Yard, chatted a while with some friends, and walked by to my House with a few of my friends for a late breakfast. I had no classes on Housing Day, so I studied for some midterms and worked at Lowell Tea for the rest of the day. When the Leverett welcomed the first-years later that night, I watched our new community members get new House merchandise and bounce around in the inflatable obstacle course the House had for students. It was a fun day filled with happy energy, and I loved being surrounded by people's House pride. The activities leading up to Housing Day that Houses host (music videos, poster-making nights, and more) are also a blast. I can't wait to participate again next year and show first-years that Leverett House is the best House!
