Why did I chose Tufts? Honestly, because my mom let me chose Tufts. She supported and encouraged and pushed me to chose Tufts without ever saying “I want you to go to Tufts.” It was incredibly well played on her part. I am impressed, Mom! But in her own words, this is what she said when I asked her to write “Why Tufts?”
I could tell Tufts was the right school for Bronwen five years ago on our "back east college tour" (we’re from Idaho). I knew it was right from the moment we stepped into the college lecture hall and an admission officer gave a talk about Tufts about how they expected each student to become an active and global citizen through interdisciplinary coursework, internships, lasting relationships, etc. It was as if we had been waiting for that speech since our first college visit and it was finally a school meant for her. Her eyes lit up and she began furiously taking notes. Then we went on the tour, and I thought our hope for applying to Tufts was lost - it was pouring rain. But she applied even after being pummeled by rain and wind throughout the whole tour.
I must also say that during our visits to other schools out east, I was becoming frustrated with Bronwen’s criteria for dismissing schools that I thought seemed perfectly fine. "The lawn is too perfect” or “The trees are too big” or “The adirondack chairs are too perfectly placed” she would say. Maybe she was going for a certain vibe the whole time, and I felt it too when we went to Tufts.
I'm so proud and grateful that she found Tufts. She has flourished at this school. She has become involved in numerous clubs and found her purpose and life's passion with the help of amazing friendships, not only with fellow students, but with faculty as well. I couldn't be more proud and can only wait to see where her Tufts education leads her. And in retrospect, I'm so glad that those adirondack chairs were placed too perfectly on those other lawns because Tufts is exactly where she was meant to be.