The BSC aims to change perspectives through discussion and reflection rather than competition. Flynn suggests that one strength of The Transcript Project lies in its competitive format, with a $200 Coop gift card as the award for the winner of each category.

“I think Harvard students love competition,” she said.

Kirkland House Resident Dean Soha Bayoumi said that sometimes students are asking the wrong questions. Resident Deans Flynn, Bayoumi, and Waddell all said they hope that the project will prompt people to think differently about their transcripts.

She said that they should be asking, “‘What is this adding to me?’ as opposed to ‘what is this adding to my resume?’”

While the project will not change the way transcripts look, students will hopefully realize that it is not a marker of failure or success.

“I think it’s inspirational for people to talk about the times when they stumbled, when they failed, when they were caught in self-doubt, when they didn’t know what to do and got off track,” Flynn said.

She adds that with the transcripts as permanent records, the emphasis of this project is on what’s not shown on the transcript as opposed to hiding the transcript. “The concern should not be about your transcript, because your transcript is a story. It’s about understanding your story and communicating it, not about trying to alter it,” Waddell said.