Hopes and fears from a Class of 2020 freshman

December 10th was a long day. Ten of us at school were expecting to hear back from our Early Action or Early Decision schools. Two were waiting to hear back from Brown, two waiting from Columbia, one from Cornell, one from Duke, and four of us were waiting to hear back from Harvard. Needless to say, it was very stressful.

But it was easier to distract myself at school – I took notes more diligently than ever and eagerly participated in discussions. Getting home was a different story. As soon as I sat down at my desk, I was a mess. I tried to do homework but couldn’t, and refused to talk to my family members for more than five minutes in fear that they would bring up my impending doom.

By 4:30pm, I was sitting tensely on my bed with my laptop, my Applicant Portal on one tab and the History homework that I was “doing” on the other. By 4:45, I had given up on my History homework and was violently refreshing my Portal about once every millisecond.

Christina Cruz, from Miami, is Harvard-bound this fall

My parents came in at 4:48, knowing the decision came out at 5pm. My dad wanted to “talk about it”, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want to set myself up for disappointment. The minutes ticked by like hours…4:52…4:53…4:54…At 4:55, something new popped up on my Applicant Portal: “Status Update – an update to your application was posted” – and a link to view the update. I clicked the link before I could get scared, and read one word before my dad slammed my laptop shut in excitement: Congratulations!

The first thing I did after finding out I was accepted into Harvard was cry. The second thing was call my best friend, who also started crying. Someone posted something on Facebook, and suddenly my phone was beeping, ringing, and vibrating non-stop. My best friends and boyfriend all surprised me by showing up at my house, as did the rest of my family.

To give you an idea of how surreal it was, I have never seen my father cry before. I saw him sob on December 10th. I had never been as happy as I was that night. It was a night of laughter, tears, and celebration. My dream had finally become a reality.

With a friend also accepted to Harvard

My expectations for Harvard have changed over the years. When I was a little girl, I thought Harvard was a school for superheroes and Einsteins. Then I saw The Social Network and my view changed. The school was being portrayed as snobby and sexist.

Then I visited, and fell in love. The campus was gorgeous, Boston was the perfect mix of city and town, and the people were kind and smart. What I’m expecting from Harvard is an amazing four years. I’m expecting to take interesting classes and study under world-renowned professors. I’m expecting to partake in advanced research and find new passions I never knew about before. Most excitingly, I’m expecting to be part of an extremely diverse student body.