Class of 2022 Alumnus Tay’vian Laing gives a snapshot of his life at Harvard University in a short interview.
Q: What is your major and minor if you have one?
A: I concentrate (major) in Government and, at the moment, I’m thinking about having a secondary in Sociology.
Q: What did your typical day look like as a Harvard student?
A: Just depended on how I felt that day to be honest. Like some days it would be early mornings and late nights or even the other way around. I’ve had many all-nighters at Harvard, but that’s all on me because I work better during those hours, for some reason. Typically, in a day, I’d have at most 3 classes or at least one class. This semester I had only at most 2 classes in one day and days where I’d only have 1 class. So it’s all depending on how you pick your classes.
Q: What was your favorite class at Harvard and what was your favorite class at Kolbe Cathedral?
A: One of my favorite classes at Harvard would be Race, Gender and Performance. A GenEd class where we look into how race, gender, and performance intersect within each other. My favorite class at Kolbe Cathedral was Religion. If I had to pick one I’d have to go with the New Testament. Shout out to Mr. Melinkov for making Religion class the best!
Q: Are you a member of any clubs/activities/societies on campus?
A: I am a member of some clubs on campus. One big club is BMF which is a black men organization at Harvard which hopes to enlighten and strengthen the black men at Harvard to be better and have a brotherhood within the Harvard community. It’s really been helpful in terms of making connections with people and having close bonds through my first year.
Q: How was it living away from home for the first time?
A: Living away from home was hard at first because there were a lot of things that you just have to figure out on your own, but after a while it became so worth it. It definitely helps you become an adult and prepare you for your future life.
Q: How did Kolbe Cathedral prepare you for your college experience?
A: Kolbe Cathedral prepared me a lot for academically challenging courses that I have taken at Harvard, but I mean Harvard is a different ballpark so a lot of my first semester I felt a little behind in comparison to other students who were coming from feeder schools and more selective private schools.
Q: Your favorite thing to do in Boston in your spare time?
A: My favorite thing to do in Boston in my spare time is EAT! There are many restaurants there that are surprisingly different from what we have here in Connecticut, so it’s a mix of exploration with eating.
Q: What is your favorite restaurant/eatery/food in Boston?
A: There’s this place in Boston called Boston Burger Company and their burgers are so good and they’re cheap at times. There’s different types of burgers too that you can customize to the point where you can’t even add the top bun on the burger.
Q: Were there any challenges and how did you overcome them?
A: Challenges were just academic challenges in my first semester because I now had to learn how to actually study, when at Kolbe I never really studied unless I was taking a final. I overcame this challenge in second semester by actually studying and hosting my own study groups with friends.
Q: Do you have any advice for Kolbe Cathedral graduating Class of 2023 students as they embark on their college careers?
A: Be patient with yourself and do not beat yourself up when you get something wrong or you find yourself stuck. It’s a different ballpark then what high school is and there’s going to be times where you won’t get the grade you want and that’s okay as long as you try your best and are patient with yourself, you’ll be fine. Also, I strongly recommend taking the first semester to orient yourself with the College you’re going to and understand everything that the school has to offer and take grasp of that.
Q: Are you looking forward to Christopher Morel ’23 joining you there next year?
A: I laughed when I saw this question because you all have no idea how hard I’ve been fighting this man to get him to commit here. As soon as he started to apply, to the day he got into Yale, I was Harvard’s biggest advocate and here he is. Can’t wait to spend another 3 years with him. It’s a big moment for me and him, but most importantly, for the Kolbe Cathedral community. We got two people going to Harvard for the first time ever, let’s make it three!
