First Week: Hogwarts Edition

It’s the first week of school at the institution I’m visiting on sabbatical. But since I’m not teaching and have no formal responsibilities, for me it’s another non-first week. Why not re-read the Harry Potter books? It’s been over five years. So yesterday I picked up Sorcerer’s Stone and leisurely immersed myself in Harry’s first-year experience at Hogwarts. What jumped out at me this time around was Harry’s bewildering first week at a new school away from home and how he learns to make friends.

Harry was clearly very anxious about many aspects of his new experience. I don’t blame him. He’d just discovered his wizarding identity and knew nothing about navigating the magical world, no-thanks to the Dursleys. He was leaving home at age eleven to a boarding school, location unknown. The curriculum sounded completely unfamiliar, although to his credit he started reading his textbooks before classes started. And he didn’t know anyone, not to mention he had no friends up to this point, again no-thanks to the Dursleys!

I thought back to the times when I went to a new school. My memory is hazy about how I felt. I don’t recall being anxious; and my parents confirmed this to be the case since they would better remember such things. I had several advantages Harry Potter did not have. I started first grade at the school where my brother was in third grade so there was some familiarity. A year later, construction was completed on a primary school a three-minute walk from my home. They were accepting first and second graders, so my parents transferred me there to start second grade. In any case, I didn’t have trouble making friends and enjoyed going to school – we didn’t learn much, but that’s a different story. My parents were schoolteachers (although not at the schools I attended) and they said they kept things low-key so we wouldn’t be stressed about going to school.

Moving to the neighborhood secondary school was similarly non-traumatic. My brother was two years ahead, and I moved with many of my friends from primary school so I knew a lot of classmates already. I made new friends who came from other feeder primary schools. Once again, I enjoyed going to school, not sure I learned much, but there was good camaraderie. Five years later, I went to a junior college in a neighboring country, not knowing anyone, but establishing camaraderie very quickly with fellow students in a similar situation. It was my first time living away from home, but I knew how school “worked” at this point. I also did not have to deal with moving staircases, vindictive teachers like Snape, or having encounters with trolls and a Dark Lord. (For reference to a tongue-in-cheek McGonagall perspective, see here.)

Harry had the additional challenge of being “famous” even before stepping foot at Hogwarts. This must have been a significant burden to bear, on top of the shock of finding out who his parents were, how they died, that he was a wizard, etc, etc. It must have been super-stressful! But he seems to have good instincts on how to pick friends, opting to hang out with Ron rather than Draco. And even though the boys did not like Hermione in the beginning, their intense shared experience of defeating the troll at Hogwarts, solidified the friendship. I also think the House system contributed significantly to Harry’s social environment and fitting-in to Hogwarts. Good thing Harry went to Gryffindor!

Reading through Harry’s experience reminded me of my first-year students when they first come to college, bright-eyed, but also carrying much anxiety. They’re worried about classes, whether they will perform well, whether they will make friends, whether they will get along with their professors, and most of them are away from home for the first time. Residential colleges in the U.S. today have significantly expanded their co-curricular programs for first-year students; retention is a driving factor behind the setup of the now ubiquitous “First Year Experience”. Students today have choices, and I think that adds to the anxiety. Not having had as many choices when I went through school as a youngster, I don’t think I experienced anything close to what my students today go through. When you have little choice, you don’t worry about whether you made the right or wrong choice.

A month ago, I had an extended conversation with the head of counselling services at a liberal arts college. It was very enlightening to hear his perspective on the issues his office faces, and the things that students are going through. (Confidentiality was appropriately kept in our conversation, so we talked mostly in broad generic terms.) Anxiety and depression, the rise of social media, gender-related issues, and more, are faced by today’s students with an intensity that I certainly did not experience. Re-reading Sorcerer’s Stone reminded me to be cognizant about these things. A good thing to consider during the first week of a semester!