Block to the Top

Housing Day is fast approaching. For upperclassmen, it provides an opportunity for a raucous outpouring of House pride. Yet many freshmen may still have reservations concerning Harvard’s system of housing and the blocking process at large. We recognize these concerns, and we believe that—from blocking to Housing Day—Harvard’s housing system provides ample opportunity for adjustment to House life, maintenance of social relationships, and exploration of new friendships.

Yet despite Harvard’s efforts to make the transition to upperclassman housing seamless, blocking season can be a time of great apprehension. The stress of forming a group capped at eight people can begin months ahead of the deadline, and especially for students who feel that their friendships span multiple social groups. Upon the return from winter break, this anxiety rises to the forefront for many freshmen, adding additional pressure to the beginning of their second semester. However, blocking is often made out to be much more difficult and scary than it actually is.

When freshmen select their blocking group or choose to block alone, they are not selecting their social circle for the next three years. In fact, it is important not to conflate blocking and rooming, as living situations are only determined after Housing Day. While many sophomores live with their blockmates, many more do not. Inter-House transfers are also an option for students dissatisfied with Housing Day. Yet the vast majority of seniors last year reported that they were satisfied with their House’s living situation, indicating that home can be found anywhere along the river or in the Quad.

Essential to any good home, however, is its a comfortable level of noise and cleanliness. Freshmen would thus do well to recognize that not all friends are necessarily compatible roommates, and not all compatible roommates are necessarily the best of friends. Furthermore, the housing system allows for great flexibility in who students actually live with—if dynamics within a blocking group change, there are always ways to revise arrangements.

So for students worried about how to stay close with their Gregorian chant-loving friends without tearing their hair out, linking can be an excellent way to maintain close bonds as well as healthy boundaries. On that note, we strongly recommend not blocking with a significant other. In fact, we very strongly recommend against it.

Though location is certainly not the definitive factor in whether relationships last, living in the same vicinity can be an important way to maintain connections, especially with friends in different classes or activities. Maintaining these relationships starts now, by having productive, honest, and occasionally uncomfortable conversations with blockmates, linkmates, or friends.

Often, blocking complications arise from poor communication or lack of transparency between friends. We urge freshmen not to delay hard blocking conversations. Stringing a friend along, only to avoid blocking with them last minute, leaves them in an unfair predicament that easily could have been avoided with a five minute chat.

Of course, our words of practical wisdom are unlikely to appease freshmen currently Googling “what blocking configuration guarantees me a single in a River House that isn’t Mather” (spoiler alert: there isn’t one). There are certainly concrete ways in which the College could make upperclassman housing less stressful, and we urge House administrators to increase social programming for rising sophomores, including during spring semester, to integrate them into House life.

Yet as freshmen look ahead to their awaited blocking decisions and Housing fate, they should also bear in mind that their Harvard experience thus far is only one chapter in a much longer story. The first year of navigating Harvard life can feel both underwhelming and overwhelming. It can be chaotic, confusing, and stressful.

The beauty of Housing Day is that it is symbolizes a new start. The reality of college life is that communities constantly change, grow, and emerge—often for factors out of our control, and sometimes from unexpected sources (we’re looking at you, the elusive few who actually get placed in Kirkland). Somewhere among the cheesy House t-shirts, gawking tourists, and screaming upperclassmen, we hope freshmen can see a flash of that beauty.

This staff editorial solely represents the majority view of The Crimson Editorial Board. It is the product of discussions at regular Editorial Board meetings. In order to ensure the impartiality of our journalism, Crimson editors who choose to opine and vote at these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on similar topics.