<p>bump 10 char</p>
<p>Hi guys, I made a new account for this, because I’d like to keep my confidentiality. I was admitted to the Class of 2015 this year.</p>
<p>My high school experience was fantastic. I was oblivious to what college was for the first two years, living, as some would say, in blissful ignorance. I recommend this. I made many friends and grew to love learning (which I had very little interest in before). I cared about how I did on each test on its own, but didn’t entirely know/care about how my grades averaged out to a year grade and how GPA worked yet. I got my fair share of Cs and Ds - just a few on minor (or major) assignments, as I was stumbling and acclimating to high school. C’mon, it’s only natural guys.</p>
<p>I’m a very bubbly and optimistic person. I talk to strangers, but I don’t usually accept candy except the occasional piece of gum. I say “hi” to people in the halls too, which is weird in New England, and I absolutely love laughing. </p>
<p>I like to challenge myself. I love thinking about things. I don’t really like to read, which I know might seem strange, but I love making up stories and thus love to write. I love imagining everything. I love storytelling and sharing my stories with the world.</p>
<p>I can be selfish. haha great contrast with “sharing with the world.” I hold grudges and grow green with jealousy. I’m human… except the green part; that’s when I’m an alien :D</p>
<p>I hated the college application process at first because it tormented me (I’m a perfectionist and the app can’t be perfect), but I actually grew to like it! Through writing many many personal statements, I learned a lot about myself, which is what many of us, I believe, are struggling with both at this age and at this crossroad in life. </p>
<p>Anyways, that’s my life/personality/whatever in a nutshell 
don’t conform to it/you’ll end up hating yourself and you won’t succeed, because there’s so much more to you and so much more to me. you need your own experience to shape you. Now go outside and kick a ball. Or stay inside and play Clue. Have an experience. Think. Explore. Love. Cry. Trust. Dare. Imagine. Dream. And Embrace.</p>
<p>In response to whoever asked about what the culture on campus is:
After a year, my impression is that in a lot of ways Harvard is what you’d expect - get a lot of high-achieving, competitive kids together, and you get a campus environment that fosters and encourages not only achievement but almost obsessive levels of involvement. This is probably true at many ivy leagues, but I’ve heard that it’s more the case at Harvard than, for instance, Yale, which seems to be more relaxed and slow-based.<br>
The best way to describe the Harvard culture might be to describe how I’ve changed after a year there. I’m more independent; I don’t feel the same need (that I did in high school) to constantly refer to other people to plan my life, classes, goals, etc. (this is probably good, since if you do this too much at Harvard, you go a little crazy.) I’m more assertive; not necessarily in terms of strict social relations (although maybe a little bit in that sense too), but in terms of seeking out advisors, professors, etc. once I realized that they were available if I asked but weren’t going to do things for me. I’m a little more elitist; there are so many people at Harvard who are really fantastic at various things that I’m certainly less easily impressed than I was in high school. I’m also more competitive and more ambitious.
As a TL;DR, I’d say that the Harvard culture is very much one that discourages complacency in previous achievements; no matter what you’ve done, you’re pushed to do more. This has its upsides and its downsides, but I think it is unique, if not in the specific character, then in the extent to which it’s ingrained.</p>
<p>Elanorci reflected:
</p>
<p>Elanorci represents only one data point in a complex place with a wide range of people and sub-cultures. That said, this is a pretty good capsule summary of important elements of Harvards culture. Harvard is an excellent fit for talented, ambitious self-starters who will thrive in an intensely, but subtly and implicitly, competitive culture. </p>
<p>Elanorci doesn’t say this, but between the lines you could read, “Like most people who get into Harvard, I was very competitive and ambitious in high school. Amazingly enough, I’ve become even more so after a year at there.”</p>