Since I’ve been in Pforzheimer House, I’ve had the distinct privilege of greeting our newest members as one of the nine distinguished Polar Bears. But with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic and our departure from campus, this year’s Housing Day unfortunately did not occur as planned. While I’ll miss sweatily running around Harvard Yard at 6AM nearly suffocating in my costume, I’ll always cherish the Pfoho memories I have! To that end, here are “pfive” reasons why Pfoho is the best House at Harvard...
- The Guinea Pigs: In a small room in the front of Moors Hall is a wonderful little family of Pfoho guinea pigs! No one really knows where they came from, but they’ve been living in the care of Pfohosers for years. The guinea pigs are super friendly and always eager to play with visitors - they are honestly one of the highlights of living in Pfoho. Inside of their room is a small couch, so if you’re ever feeling stressed or just need a little guinea pig love, they are the perfect friends for you!
- The Rooms: Pfoho’s housing is undeniably some of the best on campus! At the end of the academic year, students are assigned a lottery number, and based on that get to select their housing for the next year. Rising sophomores fill out an application based on their lottery position while rising juniors and seniors get to physically select their future suite. As sophomores, my blockmates and I lucked out with a two-story duplex suite (featuring our own bathrooms and singles)! No other house on campus allows sophomores to have housing as nice as Pfoho’s - and since it only gets better as you rise up, Pfoho is certainly one of the best places to live!
- The Pf: Pfoho’s a quirky place with an even quirkier name. One special house tradition is adding “pf” to the beginning of words, or in front of f’s. Oftentimes, this is super funny and it’s a great “pfeature” of Pfoho life that makes it unique. Our library is the “Pflibrary”, our dining hall is the “PfD-hall”, and our spa is the “Spfa”! Did I mention that we have a spa?
- The Community: Pfohosers are some of the best people that I know on campus! One result of the quirkiness of house life in Pfoho is that people really buy into it. Since members of Pfoho are so passionate about living in the house, it feels like less of a residential group of students and more like a family. Our Faculty Deans host monthly gatherings in their residence with awesome food from around the world, our House Committee throws a weekly kickback called “Pfortuna” with food and drinks from local restaurants, and the centrally located dining hall is always the best hangout/study spot to catch up with friends and feel the house’s bustling energy!
- The Quad: Since the quad is about a 15-minute walk from Harvard Yard, it sometimes gets a reputation for being “far away”. In fact, I think this is one of the best aspects of life in Pfoho! Being separated from the noise and crowds of Harvard Square makes returning to the house feel like returning home. I’ve personally found the short walk to be a great way to get a bit of exercise on the way to or from class or meetings, and when the weather’s bad there’s a shuttle every five minutes that drops you right in front of Harvard Yard! Not to mention how open and green the quad lawn is - it’s like a Harvard Yard away from Harvard Yard.
This is just a glimpse of how awesome life has been these past few years in Pfoho. I’ll love it pforever!
