How to Survive Orientation Week
Today marks the end of my second official week at Tufts. I have to say I’m feeling significantly more put together. I can’t lie and say I have no homework or a care in the world, but I finally have a routine down. Orientation week was incredible, but by far one of the most jam-packed and exhausting weeks of my life. We had countless seminars to teach us about life at Tufts, showcases from all the performing arts groups, platters of free food, and activities that went on until 1 in the morning many nights. We were kept on tight schedules, not to mention the extra hours you’d stay up socializing and introducing yourself about 300 times in the span of an hour because making friends is essential. I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy the majority of the week, but I wish someone had told me to save up all my energy for the year, just to use on orientation week. This isn’t to scare anyone, we all have to go through orientation week, at any college, and it really is a great experience. I just have a few tips to help you settle into that week and make a smoother transition into your freshman year.
1. Sleep is crucial. (I promise that not introducing yourself to that last group of people that showed up to your common room at 2:30 in the morning won’t leave you friendless.)
2. Take advantage of being with your family. Put as much as you can of your room together with them because you’ll never have that many helping hands again. Also, take the time to appreciate them, I promise you’re going to miss them as much as they’ll miss you.
3. Eat decent meals at decent times. I know you’re going to be tempted with free ice cream, pizza, and tons of candy (usually at the latest moments of the night), but half the time it’s not going to make you feel any better. Try to get relatively healthy food in your body to keep you going.
4. Get organized. This was so important for me. You’re going to be bombarded with incredible amounts of information. Don’t overwhelm yourself. I recommend taking a small notebook and writing down things you want to sign up for, important info you want to remember, or events you want to attend.
With those things in mind, HAVE FUN! This is going to be a unique experience that will allow you to enjoy the trillions of things that Tufts has to offer pretty much all the time. Take things lightly and keep an open mind about trying new clubs, classes, and extra-curricular activities. The fact that our faculty as well as other fellow students are so involved with welcoming the freshman class will give you an opportunity to get genuine insight about all the things you’re interested in. Hope you all get a chance to experience this Jumbo Orientation Week, I promise you’ll survive it!