Anderson has a special connection to Quest Scholars, which he says helped get him into Harvard--he participated in the Stanford University branch of the program during high school.

And his commitment runs deep enough that Anderson was willing to defer Harvard Medical School (HMS) long enough to get the program up an running.

When the program's director first contacted Anderson, the Lowell House resident already had decided to enroll in HMS this fall. He changed his mind at the last minute, and starting this month, Anderson will report to north corner of the Yard every morning.

The PBHA program will be modeled after Stanford's. Twenty-two high school students with high academic potential and the SAT scores to prove it have been selected to come to Harvard for the summer. Here, they will receive help writing college applications and improving their SAT scores. They will also spend time on personal development through activities like field trips and faculty lectures by big name Harvard professors, including Agee Professor of Social Ethics Robert Coles '50, University President Neil L. Rudenstine and Frankfurter Professor of Law Alan M. Dershowitz.

But aside from Anderson's dedication to the Quest Scholars program, he also has a special enthusiasm for Harvard itself. The California native was tempted to return home upon graduating from Harvard.

"It was tough for me to say I didn't want to go back to California," he says. "But I feel comfortable here."

Some new graduates might want to try out a new working environment, but Anderson saw his connection to the Harvard community as an advantage of remaining in Cambridge.