Tufts Blogs

Ever wondered what a typical day in the life of a college freshman is like? Well, buckle up folks, because you’re in for a long, detailed ride. Here’s my typical Tuesday!

8 AM: My alarm goes off with the effect of a siren, slamming into my dream and startling me awake. Tuesdays are my earliest mornings, and they always seem to come faster than expected. I heave myself up and climb down off my lofted bed to turn off the horrendous noise coming from my phone. I live in a triple dorm in Bush Hall, one of the only halls with lofted beds in its triples (more on triple-living in a later blog). While sleeping near the ceiling doesn’t have many pros, having to climb out of bed to turn off my alarm ensures I never press snooze. 

8:05 AM: After standing in the middle of my room for a couple minutes dazed and unfocused, I manage to wake myself up enough to get ready for the day. While brushing my teeth in the bathroom, I fill up my electric kettle to make coffee. Since I don’t like to eat breakfast before my first class, I skip a trip to the dining hall and use a French press for my daily caffeine. Once I’m sufficiently imbibed with coffee and dressed, I grab a protein bar to eat between classes before heading to Jackson Dance Lab.

8:45 AM: I arrive 15 minutes early to my first class, Modern IV, so I have time to stretch and warm-up. Every Tuesday morning constitutes an ache-y struggle to loosen up my muscles, especially since the weather has turned colder, but I love being able to start my day with dance. My professor Ruka White teaches us in the style of legendary dancer Martha Graham, guiding us through spirals and contractions and challenging us to make unfamiliar shapes with our body. Since there are only 15 people in my class, Ruka is able to give each of us personal instruction to aid in our individual development as dancers. As a dance minor, this class is one of many that I’ll be taking in Jackson throughout my four years here.

10:15 AM: My Modern class ends, and I make the 5-minute trek to Bromfield-Pearson Hall, where my next class, Dissent and Democracy: American Lit to 1900, will take place. This class is also nice and small—only 21 students—so each of us are able to add our voices to the discussion. When the course starts at 10:30, Professor Ammons guides us through an analysis of our reading for that day: the first half of David Walker’s Appeal. We learn about how massively effective this pamphlet was during the 1830s in mobilizing abolitionist movements and how dangerous it was for David Walker, a free black man living during the antebellum era, to write with such virulent and enraged rhetoric. We also compare the writings of Walker to that of William Apess, who wrote against anti-Native American sentiment during the same period. What I love about this class is how it exposes students to voices often overlooked in American history—those of marginalized populations such as enslaved people, Native Americans, and women of color. We don’t shy away from the injustices and systemic discriminations that decorate our country’s history; on the contrary, we focus on bringing these issues to the surface to further understand what this country was built on and how this history shapes the present day.

11:45 AM: After American Lit, I go to read in the Science and Engineering Complex (SEC) next door to Bromfield. Although I am the exact opposite of a STEM student (you will never find me, the English major, in an engineering class voluntarily), the SEC Atrium is one of my absolute favorite places to study. I grab a smoothie and muffin from Kindelvan Café and work on homework for Thursday’s American Lit class: finishing David Walker’s Appeal and writing a one-page reflection on my takeaways from the piece. 

1:30 PM: I meet friends from my dorm at Dewick Dining Hall for lunch. Today, the lunch special is a taco bar, including the all-important and coveted guacamole. It’s a good day when Dewick has guac, even if it’ll never live up to the California avocados I’m used to. 

3:00 PM: My third class of the day is just across the street from Dewick in Pearson Lab. Logic is definitely my hardest class this semester because it’s such a foreign concept to me; however, Professor Russinoff is excellent at explaining the material in a way that makes sense to even the most mathematically-challenged student (i.e. me). This is the class I heard about two years ago on my tour of Tufts when I was told that you can take a Philosophy course to satisfy your math requirement. My tour guide used it as a perfect example of how interdisciplinary Tufts courses and requirements are, and I can second her assertion. I can’t describe how delighted I am that I don’t have to take Calculus or Statistics ever again.

3:50 PM: Once Logic ends, I head back to Bush to relax. Tuesdays are a heavy day for me, and I usually experience a lull in energy after Logic. Normally, I would have to go uphill to Olin for my French recitation at 5:15, but the class is canceled today because our TA is sick—it’s that time of year when everyone slowly falls victim to the ‘freshman plague,’ and even TAs, it turns out, are not immune. My afternoon is lovely and free, so I work out, clean my room, and call my mom. Eventually, I pop over to Hodgdon Food-on-the-Run to grab a burrito for dinner, which I eat in my room while watching The Great British Baking Show. I rarely have an afternoon to myself like this, so I take advantage of the free time to do what calms me down and helps me decompress.

9:00 PM: The last thing on my schedule for the day is a Sarabande rehearsal, so I walk back to Jackson Gym for another hour of dancing. As the only ballet, jazz, and contemporary ensemble on campus, Sarabande allows me to dance in my element while also introducing me to new styles within familiar genres. The sixteen of us spend many hours in rehearsal together, plus more bonding time outside of the dance studio, which creates a tight-knit group that I feel blessed to be a part of as a freshman. 

10:00 PM: After a nice hearty dance sesh, I go back home to Bush second floor, silently grateful that Tuesday is over. Even though I genuinely like all of my classes, Tuesdays can be exhausting for me, and I am thrilled to be in bed at the end of the day—even if my bed is five and a half feet off the floor.