Tufts Blogs

I’ll never forget the first day I met my friend Brian. It was the Sunday before Labor Day, September 3, 2023, three days before I began my first year at Tufts. That night, I joined a group of around 15 other new Jumbos on a trip to Yamato II, an all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant in Copley Square. Since our group was so large, we split into four tables, and I was randomly placed across from Brian. While we stuffed our stomachs with sushi, we bonded over our shared New Jersey roots and propensity for making jokes at the expense of the New York Jets. Over the last three years, Brian has become one of my closest friends at Tufts, and he’s currently one of my housemates. 

A little over two and a half years later, on March 14, 2026, Brian was the first familiar face I saw in a crowd of busy travelers, this time nearly 3,500 miles from Boston, at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands. He and some of my other friends from Tufts were beginning a week-long exploration of Europe for their Spring Break. I was meeting up with them following an early morning flight from Madrid, where I’d been, and still am, studying abroad through the CIEE Business and Culture program. This program is one of Tufts' more than 150 pre-approved external programs. 

I’ll spare you the details of our Amsterdam adventures. Still, I felt that this moment was worth sharing, as it felt like a full circle instance that illustrates all that I love about Tufts. For instance, many applicants, as I was when I applied, are attracted to Tufts because of its size. With around 7,000 undergraduates, the school fosters the perfect environment for an International Relations major (me) to be able to connect with an engineer, like Brian. Just because we take separate classes does not mean that we are not part of the same Tufts community. No two corners of the Hill are cut off from the other. 

Moreover, my rendezvous was illustrative of Tufts’ international focus. Obviously, as an International Relations major, I am very interested in surveying the different people, places, and cultures that make up our world. Nonetheless, even my friends, who study topics ranging from Math to Quantitative Economics to Chemistry, were bitten by the bug of global travel, partially inspired by the innumerable backgrounds and stories they encountered on campus. 

Lastly, I think the anecdote conveys just how unpredictable and open-ended your time at Tufts is. When I stepped onto campus for pre-orientation over three years ago, I had no idea that my experience would take me to places all around the world, from Medford to Madrid to Amsterdam and even to Phoenix, Arizona. Be it for purposes of research, learning, career development, or simply travel, there are no barriers to where your Tufts journey can take you. 

So, though it may have done so in an indirect manner, I hope that my trivial Spring Break tale was able to exemplify why I valued the paths I’ve explored, the connections I’ve made, and the fun I’ve had over the years I’ve spent at Tufts. I’m grateful for all that I’ve experienced, and especially for the friendships I’ve forged along the way. And, hopefully, the best is yet to come. 

Photo Credit: Parker Silfies