Seniors encapsulate how they've changed since arriving at Harvard - Harvard Gazette

"Gazette photographer Stephanie Mitchell returns for the final edition of the experiment she has been conducting with six College seniors ever since they arrived at Harvard. Inspired by Nora Ephron, who told her Wellesley College graduating in 1996, "You are not going to be you, fixed and immutable you, forever," Mitchell met with undergrads during the first week of their first year, sophomore year, and then junior year, photographing and asking each to describe themselves in three words."

"Settling into senior year, Chavez, who is a government concentrator, has been preparing to write her senior thesis about politics and the judiciary system in Mexico. She honed her writing skills in a junior seminar, incrementally writing longer papers and focusing on how to organize and defend ideas - "a transformative experience." Many of her closest friends are also writing theses and she expects they will bond over the process. "It's formidable, but I'm really, really excited.""

An experiment tracked six College seniors across four years, photographing each during the first weeks of their freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years and asking for three self-descriptive words annually. The recorded words show shifts in identity, priorities, and emotional stance over time. Sofia Chavez repeatedly chose "free" and "independent," adding "curious" as a senior. Chavez prepared a senior thesis on politics and the judiciary in Mexico, developed writing and argumentation skills through a junior seminar, and anticipated bonding with peers over thesis work. Chavez reported moving from perfectionism toward viewing mistakes as character-building and expressed excitement about the thesis.

Read at Harvard Gazette