Dear Class of 2023

As a curious recent admit last year, I gathered information about Harvard to find out what I could expect the following fall. I only started inquiring after the regular admission results, though many other recent admits may have started thinking about student life long before I did. But now, as a second-semester freshman who is quickly finishing his first year of college, I realize that I internalized advice more than I should have.

So, perhaps somewhat ironically, here’s my advice for incoming first-years: Take the advice of current or past students with a grain of salt. First-years should arrive ready to create their own experiences, not mimicking others’.

For me, deciding what classes to take turned out to be one of the most confusing times during my first year. In the beginnings of my research, the Q-Guide system, a database for student class evaluations, allowed me to narrow down which subject I wanted to take a class in. A couple of classes in each slot seemed easy enough to decide upon given that I could reach out to past students or utilize shopping week, a week during which students can attend potential classes.

But choosing between two similar courses such as the first-year life science track Life and Physical Sciences A: “Foundational Chemistry and Biology” or Life Sciences 1a: “An Integrated Introduction to the Life Sciences” proved to be more difficult than I had imagined. Personally, I enjoyed being torn between one or two courses during shopping week; at least I was researching and personally trying to decipher the rumors floating around about each class. What confused me was an overload of personal advice that I received from talking with my peers. I took such advice as fact and made my decisions based off of it, bypassing my own thoughts in the decision.

It is true that a given Harvard student will share their honest opinions of a class. And I find few reasons to not trust the experiences of a student who has already taken the class. But such opinions are never objective and hidden behind every word is an underlying tone of “Yes, you should take it” or “No, you should not take it.” Subconsciously, I internalized these experiences as fact. I did wonder at times, “Why can’t students give me a matter-of-fact opinion of a class?” But I realized that such an opinion does not exist.

Opinions of a class cannot be objective because students use different criterion to reflect upon a class; oftentimes, unrelated sentiments can dramatically shift students’ views of a class such as whether a friend takes a class with them or whether they liked the personalities of those teaching the course. Looking back, asking these questions implied that I wanted to know what I should take during my first-year. But, incoming first-years should learn sooner rather than later that no one knows what is right for you but yourself.

Beyond classes, I remember having questions about extracurriculars in relation to what groups I would fit into on campus. Students seem to have an understanding of which student groups on campus incorporate significant social aspects, sometimes to equal degrees to the activities of the club itself. But these social aspects aren’t immutable. Because club enrollment and board members change year by year, clubs on campus are defined by the group of students that are currently in it, and one student’s past social experience may not be the experience that another student has the following year. Thus, I would encourage students to join a club in spite of prior conceptions.

Taking advice as fact should not be the intention of seeking it. And having the right intention when asking questions brought me to understand the merit in making decisions for myself. One of the reasons I reached out heavily to current students was to quell my worry about making the wrong choice. I will never stop asking for advice from friends, family, and advisors in making decisions because I trust them to have the best intentions for me. But, through my first year, I learned that this advice should not make my decisions. Only I can ultimately decide yes or no, and I must do this while realizing that my circumstances are unique, just like everyone’s are.

Harvard is simultaneously everything and nothing like I expected. I would have never dreamed of my first year unfolding the way that it did. However much I asked for advice or sought to learn about prior experiences, no amount of knowledge could prepare me for the curveballs of my first year. This too, is an important lesson that I am grateful to have learned.

So now, with my three years left, I could continue relying heavily on the actions of those close to me or I could rely on myself to find my own “way” through classes, extracurriculars, and college life.

I choose to trust myself, heeding to advice while knowing that I have the option to ignore it. Only then will Harvard be a truly special experience. And so — for incoming first-years — you can start being cautious about what advice you take by heeding mine.

Christopher Kwon ’22, an inactive Crimson Editorial editor, lives in Massachusetts Hall.