CAMBRIDGE, MA – On Tuesday evening, freshmen Rachel Stein ’23 and Jessica Williams ’23 were seen studying in the Smith Campus Center when Williams let slip to Stein that she was not of New York blood. 

As Stein and Williams bonded over their LS1a pset, Williams mentioned to Stein that she was from Nebraska. Williams remembered that Stein immediately seemed to disengage from the conversation and cited a mandatory entryway event she had forgotten about. She then abruptly got up from her seat, grabbed her Pavement latté, and walked hurriedly out the door. 

Williams stated that she “was really excited Rachel had asked her to study together” and added “it’s really nice to make new friends, especially ones with such different backgrounds from my own. I’ve met incredible people from all over the country and the world!”

Stein also expressed excitement about coming to Harvard and making new friends. “I’ve met so many amazing people from all over Manhattan!” she said.

When asked about how she ended up with only friends from New York City Stein insisted, “I don’t even know. The NYC people are just great. Somehow they always get where I'm coming from, which is a pretty hard thing to find." Glancing around Annenberg, she said, "I'd guess there are about forty of those people." 

"Also, Manhattan is really a microcosm of the entire world, so I obviously don't feel the need, you know? Once I had a friend from Staten Island, that was about good enough for me."

Upon further questioning, Stein revealed that she thought Williams “would have at least had the decency of being from Chicago, LA, or D.C. Like I even would’ve been cool with London…but Nebraska? It really sucks, too. I thought she was pretty cool.”