From House to Home

After tackling the many suitcases and giant pink plastic bags filled to the brim with things I do not even remember packing, move-in is finally done. Everything feels completely different—in part because yes, the start of every school year brings its own novelty. But this year, the transition from first-year dormitories to the highly regarded sophomore-year residential housing feels especially significant. House life is a definitive part of the Harvard experience and at the center of traditions from River Run to graduation.

All I have ever known in Cambridge is the bedroom I shared with my continuing suitemate in Pennypacker Hall on Harvard Street: homey and spacious, with beautiful windows, a laughter-filled common room, a tiny, cramped bathroom, and a balcony perfect for people-watching. Despite its distance from the Yard, it was home—familiar and warm after many long days (and nights) spent running all around campus from classes to club meetings.

Now, as I sit in my Mather single, I reminisce about these memories and crave the familiarity that Pennypacker provided. Although I am still living with my first-year roommate, we now have the luxury of singles, connected by a common room instead of an arm’s length apart. While it is lovely to have my own space, it is disorienting to come back to my room without my roomie’s chatter to keep it from getting too quiet. And although we are right next door to each other, separated only by a thin concrete wall, I feel as though the many chance conversations we had while drifting off to sleep or cleaning our space will be lost.

I also mourn the loss of the Pennypacker entryway community that I have come to love. With my old entryway now spread out all across the River and all the way to the Quad, I rarely see its members. I know that we will never truly be as close as we were then—chatting on the fourth-floor landing and spontaneously knocking on each other’s doors. No amount of “let’s catch up” and grabbing meals in our respective dining halls will recreate that feeling.

I have not gotten to know my Mather entryway yet, but I feel it will not be the same. Now, as sophomores, we all have our defined friendships and spaces on campus. I feel as though my classmates no longer look to their entryway for friendships. In my hallway, I walk past doors with names I recognize and others I do not, but I cannot bring myself to knock. It does not quite feel like Penny 4.

It is strange to be back in a school I have come to know so well and to feel like it is slightly foreign. It is both exhilarating and odd. Despite the changes that feel intimidating, there are good ones too.

There is much to learn about my new House and its culture, from Mather P-Set Nights to open houses in the airy Deans’ residence. In addition to learning where the laundry and trash are, there are pottery and woodturning studios to explore, too. Between meeting tutors and House staff, I have found that so many people work to make Mather House a home. It is strikingly different from the small proctor and PAF team that supported my first-year entryway, but I welcome the change to a bigger community that still remains tight-knit.

It is strange, however, to see so many new faces when it feels as though I have met most of the people in my year. In the dining hall, I do not recognize nearly as many people as I did in Annenberg, and I miss the constant chatter as I passed by the rows and rows of long tables—something that used to overwhelm me but now only makes me feel warm. This year, though, it will be nice to have the dining hall be so close to my dorm—far closer than the seven-minute trek I used to make from Penny to Berg.

Beyond the walls of Mather, it is also strange to see all my friends outside of their usual Yard homes, spread out across the Harvard housing system. We are excitedly planning our long-awaited reunions and much-anticipated room tours. These unplanned run-ins, as I make my way to the Square for cleaning supplies or books from the Coop, are just as joyous—a reminder of all the things that have stayed the same despite moving into our separate housing communities.

Despite all of these changes, Harvard still feels like home, and the opportunity to grow into a new space and community is something to look forward to. I remember walking into my first-year dorm on move-in day last year, and all the potential for a new year that came with it. Moving into my House this year, I can feel that same potential in the air.

The new suite I share with the same suitemates I had in Penny has its own quirks and features that I know I’ll come to love. As I put together my room and add the finishing touches—the rug bought at a senior sale, pictures from home, and posters printed at Walgreens—I can see myself living happily in Mather for the year. My single looks out onto quiet Banks Street right next to Mather, farther away from the Square than all the other Houses. The tree that shades it provides beautiful foliage that I look forward to watching change through the seasons as I come to know and love the new House that I hope will soon feel like home.

Miriam Tsegay ’29 (miriamtsegay@college.harvard.edu) is happy to be back on campus.