I worked literally non-stop my first yearbecause I believed that academic success was theonly way I could justify my collegiate Experience.I mean, it got me into Harvard. Why couldn't itget me through life?

That, of course, is the ultimate fallacy. Ispent far too little time my first year doing allthe things I should have done:

Experimenting with classes. I wasconvinced I had to get head start on my major, soI took mostly concentration classes.

Trying something new. My onlyextracurricular activity was writing for TheCrimson. I chose to take a familiar route, becauseI was too cautious (scared?) to try all the thingsI was interested in.

Finally and most importantly, growingup. I should have spent more nights talkingwith friends and learning about life instead ofanguishing over paper topics or rummaging fororganic hair products. And I should have spentless time thinking about how homesick I was andmore time doing what it takes to overcome thatfeeling--making new friends.

You see (here comes the philosophical part),success in college is measured not by your GPA oryour list of friends, it's measured by yourintellectual and emotional growth andsatisfaction--the feeling that, no matter whatgoes wrong, you're always doing what you want todo. Believe it or not, you can screw up your firstyear here. And you should. It's worth it, and fun.

To paraphrase Mark Twain, don't let school getin the way of your Harvard education. Believe me,you'll regret it if you commit yourself early onto only one thing. Don't just study, or just writefor The Crimson or just play football. Try allthree your first year and decide later what tofocus on. There is more to Harvard thanjust academics or justsocializing.

And there is certainly a lot more to thisschool than knowing that aluminum chlorohydrate isthe active ingredient in Arrid Extra Dry.

Jay K. Varma '93 is the sporsts editor ofThe Harvard Crimson.