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Reflections on Applying to HDS: Surrender

14 Wednesday Oct 2020

Posted by HDS Admissions Blog in Considering HDS

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Applying, Cambridge, MDiv, MTS, TED

Post by Patrick Downes, MDiv ‘23 

Editor’s Note: For students who have been out of school for a few years or are well into their careers, applying to divinity school can be an especially difficult decision. Here is a piece from one of our current MDiv students, Patrick Downes, about his experience deciding to apply to HDS. For a more directed approach to the application process, including a suggested timeline, please see this earlier post from July 2020. 

Forest Park in Queens // Photo Courtesy of Patrick Downes

What becomes of a person who flees a call to vocation, flees the Divine, forever fights and retreats? For me, it felt like an endless winter, an overexposure to cold. I wrestled in snow and ice. The moment I turned in my application to HDS, a moment when my acceptance seemed remote, turned into a moment of quiet. I had stopped fighting, for a little while, with God, and began to suffer less. The discernment that became my statement of purpose, my application, belongs to a surrender. 

Last November, fifty-years-old, I attended the Theological Education Day at HDS, or how it is currently known, Open House for Prospective Students.  I walked from my hotel in Back Bay to the Academy of Arts and Sciences, three miles more or less. I chanced the unfamiliar roads, feeling out Cambridge on a weekday morning. I wanted to think and prepare my heart, to cross the Charles on foot. Walking is for me a form of devotion, a time for attentiveness and witness. To attend the day was to advance toward vocation, to situate myself within a scholarly community that embraces exploration of devotion and the future of religion. 

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Featured Article: On- and Off-Campus Housing

23 Thursday Apr 2020

Posted by HDS Admissions Blog in Transitioning to HDS

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Boston, Cambridge, Center for the Study of World Religions, Greater Boston, Harvard University Housing, Housing

Post by: Kate Hoeting, MTS ‘21, Graduate Assistant 

Photo courtesy of RICK BERK, Wikimedia Commons

Since incoming students are starting to think about housing, we thought it would be helpful to run two articles from last year about housing options in the Boston area: 

  • Our On-Campus Housing article covers options like the Center for the Study of World Religions and Harvard University Housing. 
  • Our Off-Campus Housing article will give you a sense of what features to consider when searching for places to live. 

Please note that these articles were published last year, so the deadlines have changed. Because of COVID-19, the Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) is not open for summer lodging this year. Applications for CSWR housing during the 2020-21 academic year are due May 29, 2020. To participate in the Harvard University Housing lottery, apply by May 15, 2020. 

We wish you the best of luck with finding your new home! 

A Day in the Life of an HDS Student

19 Thursday Nov 2015

Posted by Keith Esposito in What's It Like at HDS?

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Cambridge, Classes, Community, Friends, Harvard, Play, Student Life, Workload

What does a day in the life of an HDS student look like? Here’s the play-by-play of one Tuesday in October.

6:00am: Grad school has confirmed that I’m an early riser who needs his morning “me” time, and today is no exception. I roll out of bed, make some coffee, sit down at my kitchen table, and do some pleasure reading over my breakfast.

Prospect_Hill_Monument_-_Somerville,_MA_-_DSC03320.JPG7:00am: I head out the door into the unusually warm fall air. I live in Somerville, about a 25-minute walk from Harvard, and my apartment sits on top of Prospect Hill, which offers one of the best views of downtown Boston. Prospect Hill also sports a stone “citadel,” which marks a number of historical events, including the spot where it’s said the original American flag was first flown. I take a second to appreciate the fall foliage and the sun glinting off the city’s skyline before heading down the hill.

7:25am: I arrive at Lamont Library in Harvard Yard. Most buildings are closed this early, but Lamont is open 24 hours during the week. At this hour, the place is deserted besides the cleaning staff and a few undergrads slouched in armchairs after an all-nighter. It’s quiet and calm, the ideal place for me to get some reading done during the day’s early hours.

8:40am: I leave Lamont and head right across the Yard to Memorial Church for Morning Prayers. Morning Prayers is one of those Harvard traditions that has been going on for centuries. The service is held Monday through Saturday for 15 minutes in a small chapel in the rear of Memorial Church that includes angelic singing from the Harvard University Choir and a short address from a member of the Harvard community. I love Morning Prayers because, though there’s a general Christian spirit in the liturgy, you never know what you’re gonna get with the sermon; they run the gamut from religious to vaguely religious to not at all religious, and the speakers include those from a range of faith traditions—or none—and from all the different schools and offices across campus. Overall, it’s a pleasant balance between consistency and surprise. Today’s speaker is Professor Michelle Sanchez from the Div School, who gives a reflection on the role of habits and her church community over the past tumultuous year.

img_1640.jpg9:00am: I cross the Yard again for my Spanish class. As an MDiv, I have to complete three semesters of language. I completed two over the summer thanks to the Summer Language Program and cross registered for an advanced Spanish language and culture class being taught through the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. It’s a tough class, and it’s a lesson in humility to be in a classroom of undergrads who all grasp the material easier than me. This week we’re finishing up our reading of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold in Spanish. ¡Qué bueno!

10:00am: Two of my fellow HDS students have Arabic in the same building at same time that I have Spanish, so we meet up outside after class and stroll together over towards the Div School campus. Today, we decide to stop at Velozo’s food truck outside Div Hall, so my pal can grab one of Dean’s famous red-velvet cookies.

10:20am: I don’t have any more class today, but I have plenty of work to do. I find an open table in the lounge in Div Hall, and take out a pile of books from my backpack.

12:30pm: After two solid hours of reading, I head outside to eat lunch and enjoy the unusually warm fall weather.

1:00pm: I head to the second floor of Div Hall to the Office of Admissions where I have a work study job as an office assistant. I really enjoy the convenience of working on campus and enjoy getting to know people I wouldn’t otherwise see. We’re gearing up for Diversity and Explorations and Theological Education Day in November, so it’s a busy day in the office.

Overall, it’s a pleasant balance between consistency and surprise.

4:00pm: I walk from Divinity Hall to Andover Hall for Community Tea, a weekly HDS tradition when the whole community comes together to share relax and socialize over food. I stuff my face with falafel, beef skewers and rice (rule #8 of grad school life: if there’s free food, I must eat as much as possible), and catch up with a group of fellow first years.

5:00pm: I backtrack to Divinity Hall and walk up to Divinity Chapel for Hear and Now. Hear and Now groups are small, interreligious support groups that meet weekly throughout the academic year. They’re less about growing in your particular faith tradition and more about sharing your story and spiritual growth and listening to your peers. I’ve grown quite close to the other two members of my group and I cherish our weekly meetings. Today, we spend half of the hour checking-in and for the other half another students leads us in the some very basic meditation.

6:00pm: I still have plenty of work tonight, so I stroll over the Harvard-Andover Library, where I end up for a few hours most days to study. I’ve come to love the odd leather and wood, reclining chairs on the second floor, and post up there. Dinner is yesterday’s pasta eaten discretely from a Tupperware. Leftovers have also become an integral part of my grad school life.

Unknown.jpeg9:00pm: The flip side of being an early riser is that my brain stops functioning at about 8:00pm. I struggle on for an hour longer, but eventually close the books for the night. I run into one of my classmates on the way out who also lives in Somerville, and we stroll home together. I end up idling on the sidewalk outside his apartment so we can finish our debate about our readings from Introduction to Ministry Studies. We both geek out over Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

9:45pm: Home sweet home. My roommate is watching The X-Files. (He’s currently working his way through all nine seasons—it’s been an interesting few weeks.) To reward myself for a productive day, I plop myself on the couch for the remainder of the episode.

10:45: After looking over my schedule tomorrow and making the next day’s lunch, I lay down in bed to do some pleasure reading before turning in. But I barely make it three pages before my head is already nodding. I toss the book aside, flip out the light, and quickly fall asleep.

Summer in the City: Reflecting Back on Boston’s Snowiest Winter

21 Tuesday Jul 2015

Posted by HDS Admissions Blog in Summers

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Cambridge, Campus, Snow, Summer

Some people might celebrate Christmas in July, but here at Harvard we remember last December just a little too well.

After enduring Boston’s snowiest winter in recorded history, even hot and humid July seems like a gift. Around Harvard Divinity School’s campus, students, faculty, and staff alike can be heard giving thanks for summer–even when summer brings 90 degree weather.

Campus pathway transformed by snow. Photos by Caroline Matas

Campus pathway transformed by snow. Photos by Caroline Matas

Winter and summer entrance into Harvard Yard. Photos by Caroline Matas

Winter and summer entrance into Harvard Yard. Photos by Caroline Matas

Snow buries a bench outside of Divinity Hall. Photos by Caroline Matas

Snow buries a bench outside of Divinity Hall. Photos by Caroline Matas

By the time next winter comes around, we are sure we will be excited to don our winter gear and play in the snow. Until then, though, we’ll take all the sunshine we can get.

Harvard Eats: Velozo’s Food Truck

17 Wednesday Jun 2015

Posted by HDS Admissions Blog in Summers

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Cambridge, Family-owned businesses, Food trucks, Harvard, Local food, Velozo's

In cities across the country, food trucks have become a favorite way to dine on the go, and Harvard has been only too happy to hop on board. Every day, the Harvard Science Center Plaza hosts a selection of food trucks offering fresh, delicious lunch and dinner options.

However, just down the street from the Yard is a hidden Harvard gem worthy of the classic boast, “Before it was cool.”

Velozo's food truck on Divinity Ave. Photo by Caroline Matas

Velozo’s food truck on Divinity Ave. Photo by Caroline Matas

Velozo’s food truck is a family business that has served breakfast and lunch to the Harvard community since 1960. Every day, rain or shine, Dean Velozo is standing by with homemade bagels, soups, sandwiches, cookies, and a rotating cast of Italian entrees.

The best part? Velozo’s food truck is located right on Divinity Avenue.

Dean Velozo shows off today's batch of chocolate chunk cookies. Photo by Caroline Matas

Dean Velozo shows off today’s batch of chocolate chunk cookies. Photo by Caroline Matas

The HDS community have long been proud patrons of Velozo’s. Here in the Office of Admissions, we have been known to begin heated debates about which Velozo’s cookie is our favorite: could it be the red velvet, or maybe the s’more? Or perhaps the double chocolate chip? We’ve even had one brave-but-deluded coworker argue in favor of the oatmeal raisin. Despite our flavor debates, however, we all agree that Velozo’s has the best cookies we’ve ever tasted.

Tantalizing row of cookies at Velozo's food truck. Photo by Caroline Matas

Tantalizing row of cookies at Velozo’s food truck. Photo by Caroline Matas

But don’t take our word for it: plan a visit to Cambridge and try Velozo’s delicious fare for yourself.


Learn more about Harvard Common Spaces here.

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Neighborhood Spotlight, Part IV: A Tour Through Central Square

20 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by johannahmurphy in Transitioning to HDS

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Adjusting, Advice, Boston, Cambridge, Community, Housing

This is the fourth post in our Neighborhood Spotlight series. To catch up on earlier installments in this series, read Part I, A Love Song to Davis Square, Part II, An Ode to Union Square, and Part III, A Tribute to Harvard Square.

For those of you who consistently hunger for a beautiful view of the Charles, let’s start at the Smoot bridge before we head to Central Square. With the Boston skyline on either side and Cambridge straight ahead, even the crankiest New Englanders find it hard not to enjoy the views on this bridge.

Sunset on the Charles in Cambridge. Photo by Caroline Matas

Sunset on the Charles in Cambridge. Photo by Caroline Matas

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Neighborhood Spotlight, Part III: A Tribute to Harvard Square

04 Monday May 2015

Posted by Erika Carlsen in Transitioning to HDS

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Cambridge, Crema Cafe, Greater Boston, Grendel's Den, Harvard Square, Housing, LA Burdick's, Mike's Pastry, Shake Shack, Student Life, Tasty Burger

This is the third post in our Neighborhood Spotlight series. To catch up on earlier installments in this series, read Part I, A Love Song to Davis Square and Part II, An Ode to Union Square.

Oh, Harvard Square, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

  1. I love that you’re so conveniently located, a place where everyone goes to meet for food, drinks, and merriment. Relatedly, no one has ever told you that you’re too far to visit (cough cough), unlike Davis or Union square.

Harvard Square. Photo by Caroline Matas

Harvard Square. Photo by Caroline Matas

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Neighborhood Spotlight, Part II: An Ode to Union Square

28 Tuesday Apr 2015

Posted by Sarah Guzy in Transitioning to HDS

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Adjusting, Advice, Boston, Cambridge, Community, Housing, Somerville

This is the second post in our Neighborhood Spotlight series. To start at the beginning, read Part I, A Love Song to Davis Square.

I actually live solidly between Union Square and Porter Square, so I’d like to briefly nod to Porter—it’s a great area with a convenient T stop, Christopher’s bar and restaurant (come for the nachos, stay for the fireplace, but be sure to eat a lot of nachos while you’re there), and Newtowne Grille (their PBR pitcher and cheese pizza special is basically the only affordable meal on a student budget in the greater Boston area). There’s also Café Zing, inside Porter Square Books, which is my idea of heaven: a coffee shop IN a bookstore?!

But mostly, when I want to go out, I head to Union Square. Union Square has an eclectic feel. It doesn’t have a T stop, which is part of the appeal—it has more of a neighborhood vibe because most of the people who spend time there actually live in the area. It’s about a 25 minute walk from Union Square proper to HDS, but I promise that it’s worth the trek!

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“I Could Belong Here”: Open House and Deciding on a Graduate School

01 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by Cody Musselman in Why I Chose HDS

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Adjusting, Admissions, Advice, Cambridge, Clubs, Community

As you deliberate on your plans for the upcoming academic year, you might be curious about how our current students decided to commit to HDS. Below, second year MTS student Cody Musselman reflects on how her experience at our Admitted Students Open House confirmed that she would thrive here at HDS.

Photo by Caroline Matas

Photo by Caroline Matas

In the spring of 2013, I arrived in Boston for the Admitted Students Open House at Harvard Divinity School. I was nervous and still unsure about whether or not I should attend in the fall. I was fortunate to have other offers and to be in the position of finding the best fit for my ambitions, interests, lifestyle, and personality. It was a wonderful, yet overwhelming position to be in. Visiting the schools in person, I had decided, was the best way to determine the proper fit.

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The Meaning of “Home”

20 Friday Feb 2015

Posted by Aisha Ansano in What's It Like at HDS?

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Adjusting, Boston, Cambridge, Community

As the winter semester wears on and students settle back into their routine here in Cambridge/Somerville/Boston, some find it a good time to reflect on what “home” means during the transition-filled graduate school years. Below, 2nd year MDiv student Aisha Ansano shares her thoughts…

“Where are you from?” It’s a question I’ve gotten more times than I can count since I’ve been at HDS. “Well,” I typically begin, “I was born in the Caribbean, on a small island called Curaçao, but I moved to Durham, North Carolina when I was 10, and I lived in the California Bay Area for 5 years before I came to HDS.” It’s a long answer, but the only one that feels authentic – these places are all my homes, even though I now live in a wonderful apartment in Cambridge.

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