Tufts Blogs

As the semester has begun to take off, Jumbos across campus have increasingly become more involved in their academics and extracurricular activities. Since each individual has a very unique schedule, I decided I wanted to explore the day in the life of two of my friends and well as ask them a few questions regarding their personal opinions on the college lifestyle. The first person I interviewed was Dillan Tran, a freshman studying Mechanical Engineering in the School of Engineering from Philly.

What does your morning routine look like? 
What does your class schedule look like? 
Where and when do you eat? 
How much homework do you have? How hard are your classes? 
What activities are you involved in and what do they entail? 
Biggest differences between high school and college?
How and where do you spend your free time? 

Dillan Tran (Engineering): 

From Monday to Wednesday, I try to wake up at 7:30 am but I always end up waking up at 7:45 am. I eat breakfast at Dewick and have a chem lecture at 8:30 am. Thursdays I wake up at 8:30 am, and Fridays I wake up at 9:30 am because my classes start an hour later. Tuesdays and Thursdays I end the day at 12:50 pm which isn’t that bad, but Fridays I end the day close to 6 pm.My earliest class is at 8:30 am, and thankfully I end in the early afternoon. The only exception to this is when I end class at 5 pm which isn’t too bad.

I eat everywhere. Over the weekends I am be uphill a lot so I would frequent Carm. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I eat lunch at Pax. And on the other days, I eat lunch at Dewick because of how close it is to Bush (Residence Hall). I go to Hodge (Residence Hall / Fast Dining spot on the Medford campus) whenever I want to eat with friends.

I have a lot of homework. It’s only four classes, but I have homework every night.
I like to spend time with my friends doing work because it helps me do work whenever I’m around productive people. I spend three hours or so for each time I did work with them, and I spend almost every other night doing work with them.

College has a lot of large assignments and classes can vary. Schedules aren’t as clean as high school schedules. There are much better food options at college as compared to my high school. There are plenty of different people when it comes to college too. In high school, everyone who went to my school was from the area.

I spend my free time going out with friends and having fun with them. Sometimes I would go out to eat with them at really random and out of the blue moments.

The second person I interviewed was Geovani Cruz, a freshman at SMFA getting his BFA from Los Angeles.

Geovani Cruz (SMFA): 

My basic morning routine is having my alarm at 7:45 AM to get ready and catch the Beacon Street shuttle that takes me to SMFA. I get my breakfast at the Atrium in SMFA and wait for my studio class to start at 9 am. This is for Wednesday and Thursday.

On Monday and Tuesday, I wake up at 8:00 am and I make myself some breakfast. I work at the SMFA Student Affairs Center at 10:00 am, so that’s why I wake up a little later on those two days. On Friday, I have my Intro to VISC (introduction to Visual Culture), so the morning routine looks the same as Monday and Tuesday. My latest class, my English class, starts at 6 PM and ends at 7:15 pm on Tuesdays.

On Mondays, I have a seminar with Margot Cardamone at the Medford campus, so I take the green line and red line. On Wednesday, I have my studio classes from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm which are my metals and sculpture classes. Thursday afternoon at 6:00 pm I have my second meeting at the SMFA, and on Friday I also have my Intro to VISC class. Our professors still have us go to open studio throughout the week, so that’s where I spend most of my time during the night and weekends at SMFA.

I eat at SMFA's atrium usually, but during the weekend I eat in Medford. On other days of the week, I eat at Dewick.

 
Right now, I would say I’m not that stressed because it’s my passion to focus on the arts, so I’m okay with the extra hours I spend in the open studios. I would say I get stressed with English and Intro to VISC when the readings exceed the 10-page count and essays every week. 

I wanted to keep participating in UIJ [United for Immigrant Justice] and get more involved at the Medford campus, but with my schedule, I won’t be able to travel as much over the week. So I’m joining the Artist of Colors at SMFA and I will hopefully make my own club throughout the fall semester. 

I think the biggest difference would be how much time and independence we have to schedule our life every week. How I made it to art school, and how I will develop myself as an artist. As I’ve struggled with labeling myself as an artist throughout high school, and now I’m working on getting my title as an artist. 

I would say I spend most of my time at SMFA and the surrounding neighborhoods. I've made it my goal the culture at SMFA and the surrounding areas.

The college experience here at Tufts University varies from person to person. The diverse environment that is fostered within this campus allows students to make the most out of their college experience. As a student, you truly have the power to get involved in a variety of different extracurricular activities and academic courses that fulfill your personal curiosities.