Editor's Note

Dear Reader, Over the past year, we’ve received lots of fan mail from you all. FM has been called “stupendous,” “paradigm-shifting,” “an absolute delight to read,” etcetera, etcetera. So the bar for this end-of-year issue was high — but our writers have surpassed it once again. Indeed, if we can toot our own horn a bit, this issue is a superlative one. And so too are the seniors we profiled in this issue. After trying out many iterations of senior features in the past — Most Interesting, Randomly Generated, and even (regrettably) Hottest — FM is returning to a classic this year: senior superlatives. We asked the Class of 2023 to nominate 15 of their peers for our superlative categories, including Best Dressed, Class Clown, and Most Likely to be President. While each of these seniors has a unique speciality (well, except Most Well-Rounded), all of them were passionate, pretty darn humble, and a pleasure to get to know. Even as we highlight these very accomplished seniors, we still remember what it was like to be a confused freshman, overwhelmed by all the Harvard jargon. How do I look for a “gem”? Is a “comp” based on completion or competition? Why can’t we just call them majors like a normal school? Luckily, HD, MMN, and KT spent the semester compiling an (un)official dictionary of Harvard lingo, tracing the origins and evolution of 15 words and phrases with particular significance. The stories behind these words shed light on the history and culture of our campus, especially the role we students have had in shaping it — from the freshmen arguing whether it’s “the ’Berg” or just “’Berg” to the seniors mourning the loss of shopping week. This is the longest glossy we’ve ever published, the latest we’ve ever stayed up to publish one, and possibly the shiniest to date (you can be the judge of that one). It is also our last. We’ll miss the Monday nights spent debating pitches and lounging on beanbags, the Tuesday evening maestros derailed by Photoshop rabbit holes, the weekend afternoons filled with frenzied editing and Post-its and laughter. Leading this magazine has been the best experience we could’ve asked for. As sad as we are to depart, we could not be more excited to bequeath FM to the toughest, wisest, kindest people we know: AHL and IYG. Going forward, please address your adoring letters to them instead — this next chapter of FM is going to be the best-est. Yours in retirement, SSL & MVE