I grew up in Adrian, Michigan, where twenty-one thousand people live. Five thousand of them used to work for Ford Motors. Now nine hundred work at the new prison, and the rest hang out, sipping Diet Pepsi and watching agribusiness thrive. I graduated from high school having read Catcher in the Rye, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and twenty-four years of Uncanny X-Man comic books. I also composed lyrics for the rock ensemble Scarecrow Boat, whose hits included: “Everybody Loves Me But the Girl I Love”. My formal education entailed two years at Deep Spring College, two years at Harvard College, two years at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and three geological epochs in the Harvard University English department, including this one. I’m currently writing a dissertation on how the CIA secretly funded writing workshops in the 1960s.

[Kjell]: Hello Pfoho! I am a third year PhD student in Business Economics hoping to make the world a better place by figuring out the role of the business environment in determining firm productivity. I grew up in the Bronx, Malaysia, Burma, and Sweden until I escaped to study economics and computer science at Columbia. Along the way I’ve ended up in some two dozen countries ranging from working at Vietnam Airline’s IT department in Hanoi, to “studying” Swahili at the Zanzibar Institute of Foreign Languages. Before starting this program, I worked at the economics consulting firm LECG, looking at the exciting deregulated wholesale electricity market in New York state, and quickly started doing research on company strategy and national competitiveness at HBS instead. My great passions are Chen-style tai chi, cooking, cats, and movies. So please stop by for any reason, whether you want to know anything about tai chi, need a recipe involving chocolate, are debating obscure travel destinations, are curious about south-east asian cat breeds, need a good movie suggestion from the 1940s, or simply want to practice your Swedish.

[Huong]: Hi Pfoho! While I have spent many winters in New York, Boston and Ann Arbor, I still consider myself a Californian at heart! Seasons are seriously overrated. So if you ever want a fellow comrade to commiserate about the weather, I’m your woman. Additionally, I can also be a good source of advice about government and/or economics. I am a 3rd year PhD student in political science (government) at the University of Michigan, doing research on healthcare policy for migrant laborers in China. I did my undergrad degree in economics and political science at Barnard College. Prior to returning to the ivory tower, I did management consulting at Monitor Group. In my spare time, I love to do power yoga, travel, shop, cook and watch reality TV. So if you ever want to drop by for yoga, shopping, or to watch (discuss) Project Runway or Top Chef, please don’t hesitate. Needless to say, if I can be any help in your endeavors in trying out the world of management consulting or graduate schools, knock on my door!

Hey Pfoho! I am a fourth year medical student at HMS, in the Health Science & Technology program. This is my third year as a Premed tutor in the house, and I can't wait to shamelessly promote medicine (its great!). I was born and raised in Fort Collins, Colorado, where the bears roam free and head-to-toe REI gear is "in". After waving goodbye to the Rocky Mountains, I spent four years in Pasadena, California where I did my undergraduate work in biochemistry and neuroscience at Caltech. In between forsaking the year-round sunny awesome weather of Cali and heading to Boston, I spent several months backpacking Europe on a few bucks a day, with everything from hiking the Alps to running with the bulls. (If you ever need to know how to sleep cheap in a circus tent in Munich, come talk to me.) Academically, I am interested in the evolution of human cognition, and the way unstable neural network behavior can precipitate neurological disease. I am planning on pursuing a career in academic neurosurgery, and love to run on and on about medicine, surgery, and the brain if you're ever interested. When not pressed under a ton of medical texts or at the hospital, I spend my time honing my skills in Kendo, the Japanese martial art of swordsmanship. I love watching (often bad) movies, playing the clarinet, hiking, climbing, and traveling. I'm really looking forward to the coming year and getting to know you. Drop by any time!

Originally from Lexington, Virginia, I studied American History & Literature at Harvard ('01-'02), spending quite a bit of time at Pforzheimer House but even more at Phillips Brooks House. I had wonderful year after graduation in Cambridge, England through one of Harvard's outstanding fellowship opportunities, and then worked for several years in politics and consulting. Now a second-year at the law school, I am very pleased to be back at Harvard and to have joined the Pfoho community. I look forward to discussing potential careers in the law, how to take advantage of Harvard's bountiful resources, and anything else that might be on your mind. In my free time, I am known to frequent used-bookstores and listen to bluegrass music.

Hi everyone! Last spring I was introduced to Pfoho as a non-resident tutor, and am very excited to be helping out as a resident tutor this year. I'm originally from just outside of Cleveland, Ohio, and I graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2005. I'm currently a third year History of Science graduate student, and my research deals with the history of the modern global health movement and medical humanitarianism. I volunteer with the Prison Education Program, and work with a group called Seeding Labs - a nonprofit based out of the medical school. When time permits, I enjoy playing squash and sailing.

I am in my eighth year in the Classics PhD program, specializing in Greek literature. I am fascinated with Greek myth, and in particular, it's expression in archaic lyric poetry and early tragedy. But it's not just the ancient plays that draw me to the theatre - I love the whole experience and try to go as often as I can. I'm also a big fan of skating and on a cold winter weekend you can usually find me at the Frog Pond, or (if crowds of children scare me away) some other ice rink in the area. I got used to cold winters growing up in Croatia, which is where I try to go back at least twice a year. I came to the US to study at the University of Pennsylvania, after which I spent a year in "the other Cambridge" across the ocean before coming back to Harvard. I look forward to a great year with all of you!

Hi there! I am very excited to be joining Pfoho this year as a tutor and coordinator of the new Sophomore Advising Program. I hope I get to meet everybody at Pfoho and I’m particularly looking forward to meeting the Class of 2010. I consider Toronto home, though it was just one of many places I lived in before I found my way to Harvard. I’ve spent a lot of time recently in the Andes researching and writing my doctoral dissertation on Peruvian art history and archaeology. I love to travel and when I can’t travel I love to talk about it, so if you are interested in study abroad, let’s chat! I am currently a lecturer on Latin America in History and Literature; I also teach a Freshman Seminar on art heists, grave robbery, and looting. When not shackled to my desk, I like opera, winter sports, café-hopping, Bollywood, and backpacking.

G’day Pfoho. My name is Jocelyn, and I’m working at Harvard in the School of Public Health as a post-doctoral fellow in Economics. I grew up in Australia, and thus have an accent that marks me so. I did my undergrad degree in Economics and Japanese, and went on to do my PhD in Economics. My current work is an extension of my PhD thesis, and I analyze the effect of demographic change on economic growth. I use Stata a lot, so feel free to ask me any coding questions. I studied French on the side while doing my PhD, and I have just started taking German classes. Given my familiarity with the concept of living in the antipodes, I reside comfortably in Jordan North. I venture over the main house oft, and you will find me sitting on the French/German Table, the Japanese/Chinese Table, the Economics Table, or simply a table.

[Mariel]: Hey Pfoho! I'll be a first-year tutor this year and am looking forward to meeting ya'all. I'm from Maryland, went to Smith College for undergrad, and have been lucky enough to spend years and summers in Mexico, Germany, Greece, Costa Rica, South Africa, the Marshall Islands, and, most recently, Tanzania. Now I'm at the School of Public Health, studying Biostatistics, HIV, and tuberculosis. I love running and swimming, cooking and eating, reading and math-ing, traveling and just lying around. Please stop by any time to say hi!

[Brett]: Hi Pfoho! It's great to be back. There's nothing like a year on a sweltering, mosquito-infested island, and another in cold, institutional Peabody Terrace, to renew one's appreciation for the best house at Harvard. I graduated in 2005 with a degree in social studies, deciding only the day I turned in my thesis that medicine was my true calling. A research-assistant at Dana-Farber by day, and an extension school student by night, I'm the perfect person to talk to if you find yourself at an existential crossroads, searching for direction. I was born in South Africa and raised in Texas, and my passions include international and public health, travel, and a good book over a cup of hot coffee. Looking forward to meeting you all!

[John]: I'm a second-year PhD candidate in public policy at the Kennedy School of Government. I grew up in southeastern Massachusetts and majored in math and minored in computer science at West Point. After graduation, Robin and I moved to Germany where I was an officer in the 1st Armored Division. I left the Army in 2006. My research interests include law and economics, applied econometrics, and national security policy. I enjoy hiking, following politics, and procrastinating on the internet.

[Robin]: I'm a second-year student at the law school, originally from NYC but mostly from northwest Connecticut, although I returned to the city to major in math and minor in music at Columbia. After college I spent several years in Germany where I had an eclectic assortment of jobs in business and law and spent a considerable amount of time despairing my eventual return to the hiking trails of New England where, alas, I knew that the huts would not be stocked with schnitzel and noodles. This past summer I worked at a US Attorney's Office and I like the idea of returning to one. I also enjoy trying to recall the vanishing German words in my vocab, playing and listening to classical music, outdoor sports that require minimal coordination, study breaks, and a good game of Scrabble. Feel free to stop by Comstock 1 with questions about law school and applications or for any of the above activities!

I grew up in the Soviety Ukraine. As a good little commie, I went to May-day parades, waving a red flag and singing the International. When my socialist paradise crumbled, there was nothing left to do but switch sides: I came to the US and got a degree in Finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. My foray into capitalism continued as I moved to New York for a year to work at a corporate law firm. 100-hour work-weeks were not my thing, however, so I'm back in the world of academia. Here, I made a self-discovery: I like secrets. I'm co-authoring a paper on international secret agreements, doing research on turn of last century secret alliances, and writing a dissertation on spying and counterintelligence. So don't try to conceal things (unregistered parties?), because I'll find out.

I grew up in Chevy Chase, Maryland and attended the University of Virginia for undergrad, where I pursued an interdisciplinary major of my own invention in evolutionary biology. I came straight to Harvard for graduate school, and I am currently a third year in the Organismic and Evolutionary Biology department. My thesis is on the molecular evolution of athletic endurance in humans, in conjunction with the Biological Anthropology department. I am an avid ultimate frisbee player, and I love teaching new people how to play, so if you ever want to toss the disc around, shoot me an email. I'm also in the process of learning how to cook, so if you would like to use my kitchen in exchange for teaching me something, you are more than welcome.

Hi Pfoho! I'm excited to be returning for my second year as a resident tutor. After graduating from the house in 2004 and being a non-res tutor in public interest for two years, I returned to the house as a pre-med tutor last year. I am currently a third year medical student at HMS, spending the year in the longitudinal clerkship at Cambridge Hospital. Before starting medical school, I spent a year working at Boston Medical Center, where I did legal advocacy for pediatric patient families. With that background, it's probably not surprising that my academic interests include primary care, pediatrics, and social justice work at the intersection of medicine and advocacy. My other interests include baking, country and bluegrass music, Netflix, spinning, and kittens. I also dream of a Pfoho crafting circle (yes, I am serious, and this year I'm really going to do it), so let me know if you're interested in making it happen!

[Jenny]: It was pretty clear to me from early on that I wanted to become a pediatrician; I completed my undergrad and medical school years at Dartmouth, and then matched at a residency in pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Boston. After residency, I went on to a two year fellowship in General Academic Pediatrics. This spring (2007), I graduated with my Master’s in Public Health, and have begun work as a general pediatrician at the Brookside Community Health Center in Jamaica Plain, MA, a clinic that serves a predominantly Dominican population. My interests include community health, medical education, pediatric obesity, and health care disparities. In my free time, I enjoy going for walks, reading, skiing, and spending time with my husband Tyler, friends, and family.

[Tyler]: After spending the first 18 years of my life in the Boston suburb of Wayland, Massachusetts, I ventured slightly north to attend Bowdoin College in Maine, where I majored in sociology and played varsity football and tennis. I graduated in 1999, and, after a brief stint in San Diego, began teaching at the Landmark School in Beverly, MA, which is a high school for students with severe language-based learning disabilities. I also coached soccer, basketball and tennis and helped run a dormitory of 17 boys. After three years at Landmark, I moved to Boston to be closer to my soon-to-be-wife, Jenny, and to work for Tenacity, a non-profit organization in Boston that provides both an after-school program for at-risk middle school students and a free summer camp for Boston youth. My hobbies include learning new things, photography, film, reading poetry, tai chi, and leisurely walks with my lovely wife. Jenny and I look forward to meeting you all.

Hello children. My name is Steve and I have been given dominion over the belltower suite among other rooms. I am terrified. I graduated from the college in 2004, so the memories are fresh in my head of HUPD entering parties with full riot gear and rubber bullets. Gas masks. Night sticks clacking on the shields and all that. So, let's all work together and make sure that's not necessary. I am looking forward to having at least 80% of you survive the year. Also, I'm a returned Peace Corps volunteer studying law from Arlington, MA and I concentrated in Environmental Science and Public Policy and Economics and I'll be advising you in public service. I'm, like, pretty awesome.

[Ben]: I graduated from Quincy House (class of '99) concentrating in physics and math. During college I studied neutrinos in Switzerland, taught after-school programs, interned with a consulting company, and stirred up trouble with the Harvard administration over advising, healthcare issues, and the Core. After three years developing theoretical methods for quantum computing and biophysics in pursuit of a physics Ph.D., I went on leave to get involved in the 2004 election. In the process I founded a political action committee, ActBlue, which I now run full-time, and I've since become involved with a related software startup. I love movies--recent favorites include The Aristocrats, Half Nelson, Little Miss Sunshine, Paprika, and This is England. I love learning about anything from anyone who's excited about what they're doing. Even if you'd rather keep your distance from the science center, I'm interested in hearing what makes your brain churn.

[Kathy]: I do quantitative detective work for Kiva Systems, a Woburn-based robotics company. I finished up my math PhD at Harvard in 2007, focusing on infectious disease modeling, and my interests stretch from development economics and public health to business, technology, and geometry. After learning math, writing, and practical jokery at MIT, I spent a year in Orsay, France apprenticed to a pastry chef. I have studied math in Budapest, written science articles for the Chicago Tribune, done economics research at the Brookings Institution, picked up a working knowledge of political fundraising, and worked for One Laptop per Child. I love mixing batters and doughs with my hands, Mount Auburn Cemetery in the fall, elegant geometric proofs, robots of all kinds, and talking to people until the wee hours of the morning. I look forward to meeting all of you!

I grew up on Vashon Island, WA: a quaint, hippified community accessible only by ferry boat. At the age of 13 my family moved to Houston, where I attended high school, visited the Alamo and gave up being vegetarian. Unexpectedly, I developed a love of Texas in my four years there and consider it as much my home as Washington. My journey continued over the next four years in New Hampshire, where I studied comparative literature at Dartmouth College. Upon graduation, I relocated to France for a year-- teaching English to delightfully impudent middle schoolers, traveling every weekend and stuffing myself with confit de canard. I am currently in my third year of graduate study in the PhD program in comparative literature here at Harvard. Interested in twentieth-century French, Chinese and German literatures and films, I am hoping this year to come up with a viable dissertation topic encompassing these passions. I also enjoy running, reading (one would hope...), travel, dancing and hip-hop. I look forward to sharing my interests and learning more about yours this year at Pfoho!

Hello! This will be my first year at Pfoho, and I'm excited to meet all of you. I'm originally from the Midwest, near Chicago, and yes, I have recently held ducks and baby goats on a farm. After a BA at Dartmouth and a few masters degrees I have landed in the Music Theory PhD program; I'm interested in music itself and also in the intersection of music and various other spheres, including philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, history, our humanity in general...OK, OK...I like them all. When I'm not hard at work fulfilling my academic duty to listen to beautiful music (and even sometimes when I am,) I also love playing sports and engaging the great outdoors, among many other things. Pfoho is a great environment for making music, so If you want to talk about music, find people for an ensemble, or perform, (or if you are going to perform and are willing to let other people know about it!) or if you want to talk for any other reason, please come visit!