And Goodbye!
After two years and ~39 blog posts, it’s time for this Jumbo to say goodbye. And I’ve struggled with it a lot because this is my last big college goodbye and there’s so much I still want to say that one blog post just won’t do these thoughts and feelings justice! I feel like I’m saying goodbye to my best friend and there’s so much I want to say before we part ways… But I’ll be brief:
Dear Tufts,
I love you.
From Dean Herbert, my lady-knight in shining armor, to Lisa, the Tufts Dining employee who always had a smile and a coffee for me during my worst academic all-nighters—I love you. To the professors who shared their knowledge on psychology, media, and sprinkled their lectures with insights on how they’re maneuvering/have maneuvered adulthood and child rearing—I love you. To all of the TAs that put up with my academic failures over the years, I love you. To the incredibly sweet and supportive people at counseling services who gave me hope and helped me understand myself through the roughest of patches, I love you. To everyone who thought me competent enough to be trusted with the Tufts name in front of a computer—from the Web Comm folks, to Lyza at Dining, and of course Dan Grayson in Admissions—I love you. To the boys who experienced the mutual heartbreak that is learning about life and love in college, I don’t love you, but thanks for teaching me so much. To the class of 2013, who grew up with me on the hill and matured into some of the most impressive and successful people I have ever met, I love you. And lastly to the family I made when I arrived: Smallzie my rock, my babies, my fellow fellows, the friends I made abroad and on campus, the bloggers, the aSigSig kids, the psych majors who survived psych 31 and 32 with me—the friends I’ve danced, pulled all-nighters, cried in the library, had heart to hearts at the most random moments, and just had the pleasure of living my life with over the past four years, I freaking love you.
And because of you, I’m ready for the future.
Because over the past four years, you have pushed and challenged me in every way. From my faith to my fitness routine, you have asked all of the right questions and called me out when my answers weren’t sufficient. Your words and insights have pushed and guided me to reach new heights and constantly improve myself. You’ve presented me with opportunities I never dreamed of and put me in situations I never expected I’d be a part of in high school (ahem, Tufts Burlesque Troupe??). With an open mind and adventurous spirit, I slowly but steadily figured out who I truly am and what makes me happy, because of you. And when I stumbled, your help, guidance, and support were the only things that kept me going. Now that I’m leaving, the future and the uncertainty it brings feel a lot less daunting knowing I have a herd of Jumbos that have my back. Jumbos that have made me question and reflect everything and thus helped me become much more confident and sure of myself. And not just that, but after four years I have proof that keeping an open mind and adventurous spirit reaps nothing but rewards in the form of hilarious stories and self discovery: I’m ready for the future because of the attitude I developed at Tufts and who I became because of it.
So thank you, Tufts, for everything. And thank you, dear readers, for hanging out with me over the past two years. I hope my posts have added a little color to your admissions literature! I hope that if you've taken anything from my now ~40 posts, it's that college is the time to embrace change. To play, to discover, to try new things, hang out with new people, and to let those experiences change you into a better version of yourself. So whether you're checking out Tufts for the first time, counting the seconds till you're on the hill, or already here--keep an open mind and an adventurous spirit, I did and I have absolutely no regrets! And as always, feel free to reach out about anything, ever: verorichter25@gmail.com