Tufts Blogs

I know you’re tired of hearing it, and I’m tired of saying it, but the way time moves during the pandemic is truly mind boggling. Somehow an entire month of lounging in my childhood bedroom with my dog and my favorite books disappeared in a blink, and now I’m back on campus ready to start my fourth semester at Tufts. I’m almost halfway done with college—how crazy is that?? So to ring in the new semester, I thought I’d document where I and my fellow sophomores are at—what we’re doing, loving, anticipating, and worrying about. Hopefully this will help you envision where you’ll be in a couple years as a Tufts sophomore, although I hope your experience will have a tad fewer pandemics and economic recessions, for all our sakes. 

Currently, Tufts sophomores are…

- applying for study abroad! Any Tufts student who wants to participate in a Tufts study abroad program during the 2021-2022 academic school year needs to submit their application by February 1st. I am hoping to study in Paris with Tufts-in-Paris in spring 2022, so I’ve spent the last couple weeks reaching out to professors for references, writing my personal statement, and listening to a lot of French music to get in the right headspace. The majority of Tufts students who study abroad do so in their junior year, so us current sophomores are the class that are most impacted by this February 1st deadline.

- searching for summer internships. The summer between sophomore and junior year of college is a banner time for getting an internship in the field that students are interested in pursuing after college. Many programs don’t consider hiring interns younger than rising juniors, so this summer will be the first time that many of us are eligible for internships that will hopefully boost our chances of getting into grad school or getting hired after graduation. Summer internship listings are often posted in January/February, so my friends and I are currently in the thick of spicing up resumes, punching out cover letters, requesting recommendations, and trying to organize the 20 different Handshake tabs open on our browsers (Handshake is the career platform that many colleges, Tufts included, use to aid students in their job search). Thankfully, the Tufts Career Center is at our disposal for anything we might need regarding the job search, including cover letter and resume reviews, networking opportunities at career fairs, and advice on breaking into our respective industries of interest. 

- declaring majors! At Tufts, students in the School of Arts and Sciences have until spring semester of their sophomore year to declare their majors. I declared one of my majors last fall, and most of my friends have declared already as well, but students who haven’t yet are currently deciding on who they’d like their academic advisor to be and planning out the next two years of their time at Tufts.

That’s what Tufts sophomores are doing in general right now. As for me personally, I’m currently…

- (re)watching: Doctor Who on HBO Max, because one of the common threads of quarantine is everyone being forced back into their old obsessions from childhood.

- watching (for the first time): WandaVision on Disney+, Richard Linklater’s Before movies, the current season of The Bachelor (weekly, with my friends from my residential cohort), and various Barbie movies (again, with the cohort). Being a film major means appreciating high-quality cinema of all genres, folks ;).

- (re)reading: All of the Percy Jackson books (remember what I said about regressing back to childhood?). Just like film majors and cinema, English majors can appreciate literature of all genres—I’ve got young adult romance shelved next to classics on my bookshelf and I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

- listening to: Peach Pit, Lizzy McAlpine, Taylor Swift’s evermore (and let’s be honest, her entire discography), Mother Mother, The Backseat Lovers, and various upcoming singer-songwriters I find on TikTok.

- fretting over: my fiddle leaf fig, Fiona, who sprouted during my month in California and is now complaining about the lack of direct sunlight in January’s Boston. You’ll be happy to know, however, that the majority of my 50+ houseplants survived the winter break and are back on campus in one piece.

- planning out: my spring semester academics. This involves compiling information like assignment due dates and exams from syllabi into both my physical planner and my Google calendar. This semester will be the first time I have no classes on Fridays, which I’m super excited about!

- enjoying: seeing my tour attendees face-to-face! We’ve switched our virtual campus tour program from Zoom Webinar to regular Zoom Meetings for the semester, so us tour guides can see the prospective students we’re presenting for and feel less like we’re speaking into the void.

- enjoying (pt.2): the snow! The weather over the past few weeks has been blissfully snowy, and my friends and I have thoroughly adored going outside and frolicking during our free time. 

That’s about it for now! This semester will certainly be an interesting one and I’m excited to see what new challenges and surprises it brings. I wish you a very happy and successful start to your 2021, and I’ll be back soon with another blog for JumboTalk!