My Own Backyard
Choosing where to go to college is an exciting (and often frightening) experience. You spend four years of high school trying to figure out what…
It’s one thing to be a first-semester freshman, immersed in the fast-paced excitement of your new environment and suddenly experiencing the college life you spent so many (read: too many) months preparing for and speculating about. It’s entirely another to step back, come home for the first time and find everything somehow exactly as you left it, while still different from how it once seemed.
By this, I mean that coming home brought old friends and treasured locations back into my life, but the conversations and responsibilities associated with these people and places had changed with the times. For me, home is now a place relatively free of the pressures of assignments, extracurriculars, and applications that were present in high school. Over the course of my first collegiate winter break, I have had the chance to read books and articles for enjoyment, explore my favorite places in town, and catch up with friends in the precious, precious free time that now characterizes my visits home.
In talking with friends and family who I so fondly associate with home, I am comforted by how many of my experiences are paralleled by those others have also encountered in their first few semesters of college. The truth is, no matter where you go, what you study, or who you are, you have the chance find yourself challenged by your classes, excited by your environment, and fond of your new peers. Dorm life can be hit-or-miss, as can classes, homesickness, navigating extracurriculars, and the rest of the unknowns that come with starting college.
However, even while recognizing that these similarities exist between most colleges, I have come to appreciate Tufts even more since stepping back and realizing how personal my experience has felt so far. After talking with friends and family, I recognize that there is an emotional component to the story of my first semester that I can’t quite convey. I feel connected to the people and places I've come to know in the past few months in a way that's hard to explain, but I know is based on more than just familiarity. To be honest, I think many peers and teachers at my high school were surprised to hear that I chose Tufts over other universities that are more well-known and very well-respected by people in our area. And for a while, that frustrated me. I want onlookers to recognize Jumbos as as smart, enjoyable, and interesting as I do. I want people to be as excited about the community, campus, and culture as I am.
But after four months on campus and one month off, I know that my day-in and day-out life at school is so much more gratifying than the brief interactions I have away from campus could ever be. Talking about Tufts gives me a sense of pride that is more associated with personality than prestige, and I feel so myself in this community. Don’t get me wrong; Tufts has a great reputation and is very highly regarded by many of those who know it, but I’m just saying that it can be easy to get caught up in the appeal of colleges that might seem more well-known, depending on where you’re from.
I share this realization with the hope that it brings you some semblance of comfort as you enter the next phase of the college application process, spent waiting for decisions and, before you know it, making some decisions yourself. Go with your gut — and if you feel like you don’t know what that means, trust that, deep down, you actually do. May the university you choose allow you to feel true to yourself and fulfilled in your daily life, and may you feel excited about all of the fun times and lovable people your (perhaps currently ambiguous) future holds!
Choosing where to go to college is an exciting (and often frightening) experience. You spend four years of high school trying to figure out what…
I get it. As I write this, I am trying to transport myself back to my international high school in Quito, Ecuador. More than anything, I remember…