On Thursday, March 4th, we woke up to our phones buzzing. As we opened our eyes and rolled over to look at our screens, we saw an email notification with a subject line that read Welcome to Lowell! Elated by the relief of not having been quadded, Grace called her mom to tell her the good news, then ran into our roommates’ bedrooms at 5 a.m., screaming, “guys, we got Lowell!”
“Literally get out of our room, it’s fake!” our roommates yelled. “Read the email.” Their excitement, or lack thereof, did not seem to match ours. The infamous Lowell, one of the best Harvard Houses, would be ours for the next three years! But then, as we reread the email, we realized we had been pranked. Perhaps it was the email address, kermitkatherine007@gmail.com, that gave it away. Or perhaps it was the fact that it was Thursday, March 4th, and Housing Day was not until Friday, March 12th. Regardless, we had a feeling this was, indeed, a fake housing assignment. We each retreated to our rooms, reminiscing on what it had felt like to be in Lowell—even if it was for just a second. This prank, we later learned, was courtesy of The Harvard Lampoon.
For the next week our blocking group patiently awaited the announcement of our housing assignments. For those of us who are extremely superstitious, even saying the names of certain Houses that week was considered taboo. We prayed to the river gods and tried to send good karma our way—until the fateful day arrived.
On the morning of the 12th, three of us gathered together, joined virtually by the rest of our blocking group on Facetime. We waited on the Housing Day Zoom group, dancing around the kitchen as the housing team played music, until the moderator announced that our House links were available. Our hearts beat fast as looks of excitement and apprehension filled every square of the Zoom screen. Clicking the link, we hoped our gullibleness might have somehow landed us somewhere desirable. But what we saw on the screen was not Lowell house at all.
Welcome to Cabot! the computer screen read.
Our hearts sank. One blockmate started tearing up; another looked absolutely horrified. Not to be dramatic, but going from Lowell to Cabot felt like losing a beachfront property with a six-car garage for a property in the middle of the woods with no parking. No one spoke. We were speechless. The idea of the assignment being a joke crossed our minds, but it seemed impossible. Every name on the Zoom screen and in the chat was followed by the word Cabot; one person’s name was Cabot Dean.
“Guys, just wait. It could be a joke,” one of my roommates said. A joke? Again? Five minutes had already passed since we found out we were in Cabot. As we were about to close the computer and accept our fate, a video popped up on the screen. The video showed Harvard students running through a house with a bunch of question marks until finally, they entered a room and the words WELCOME TO QUINCY shone on the screen.
Though every House eventually becomes home, our blocking group, “Half Dozen,” couldn’t have been more thrilled to finally have one straight answer—and a House to be thrilled about.
Grace Von Oiste ’24 (gvonoiste@college.harvard.edu) and Yasmine Bazos ’24 (yasminebazos@college.harvard.edu) are excited to be roomies in Quincy next year.