TO 1944

You members of the Class of 1944 know it well--the popular conception of registration day at a big college. You've seen it in the movies, perhaps, or read it in the magazines. There are always some aloof, self-confident seniors, a middle group of rowdy juniors and sophomores, and then the great mass of freshmen, timid and unsure of themselves. It would be hard to convince the scenario and pulp writers that there is anything wrong with this picture, but if you look closely in the Yard this weekend, you may discover that it isn't entirely accurate. Of course, you Freshmen will be there, feeling, and looking, a little strange and out of place in your new surroundings, bewildered by all the things to do. And there will be a few Seniors, walking about quietly with quick, sure steps, knowing just where they want to go.

That is the familiar picture, but it fails of the truth, this year especially. The tables are turned now, and it is the Seniors instead who are wondering uncertainly about their future. But on this September morning, this registration day, we are not going to discuss the things Seniors are worrying about. There will be much talk of them later on. Today, this weekend, the College is mainly concerned with you Freshmen, and your relatively easy problem of adjustment. You are welcome at Harvard, and after a short time you will feel at home here. It won't take you long to find out what the next four years will be like.

There will be fun--Wellesley, Radcliffe, football games, weekends, dances, bull sessions, sports; of work there will be a greater measure--reports, labs, recitations, exams, reading, conferences, quizzes; extra-curricular activities are legion--from mountain climbing to writing a daily newspaper; there will be no end of new people to meet--President Conant, your janitor, the guy who lives next door, and maybe even your roommate. You'll soon see that there is to be unending variety in your four years here, and maybe you will wonder what it will all add up to when it is over. Those very Seniors walking by so confidently can give you the necessary clue. They may look self-assured, but they aren't. That is the best example of what your four years here will add up to. The meaning of the word education is a "drawing out," and the main thing it draws out of you is self-satisfaction.

If these are cold and comfortless words of welcome, they are not meant to be. You will know that, surely, even before you go to your first class.