This weekend is the most stressful of my semester. On Tuesday through Thursday, I have a different animation final project due each day, in addition to a problem set and some creative writing. It's the culmination of a semester's hard work, and I'm more than a little terrified about making it through with my sanity. But there are reasons outside of procrastination that made me unable to work on all of this at an earlier date, the most obvious being that I was out of town last weekend.
Last weekend, I went to the Quidditch World Cup as co-manager of the Tufts Tufflepuffs! Though it was an absolutely incredible experience, I haven't yet posted about it because I wasn't sure how to handle a topic of such levity and joy in the light of tragedy in Boston. I had the time of my life traveling to Orlando, Florida, with a team of my very favorite Tufts students.
When we returned Monday, to a city in chaos and a terrified population, we struggled to reconcile our weekend with the reality of what had happened. But through the past week, through the efforts of Boston, be it the first responders, the police, or the teams of hard-working and caring people keeping a closed Tufts up and running, both Tufts and Boston made it through. In light of this, I think it is important to share a little levity with my readers today. (Because I am Jehan, and I find the idea of moving pictures fascinating both because of Harry Potter and my interest in animation, that levity will come in gif form.)
Let me set the stage. On Saturday, The Tufflepuffs had a decent day, going 2-2. We lost our first match against Ohio State, and followed it up with a win against the University of Southern Mississippi. We then lost to the University of Texas, the team that would eventually take the whole tournament. Our last game of the day, against University of Richmond, decided whether we would make Sunday's elimination bracket. We beat them in a tough match, and went on to face Virginia Commonwealth University on Sunday morning to decide whether we would go on to the round of 16.
This gif is of our first game of Sunday. This is what I love about quidditch. This can happen. In a vital game that decides whether you go on in the tournament, your seeker and snitch can share a dance. Nick, seen here, is the Tufts seeker, and he is currently playing snitch defense. That means he is keeping VCU's seeker from catching the snitch, as we were more than 30 points down and would have lost the game if either team caught it. He held out, kept their seeker away, and made the catch that took us to overtime. We might have lost during overtime, but we proved that we deserved to be there. I am incredibly proud of what Tufts did during that game. We can play with complete intensity, and still have a moment like this in a game.
After a year's hard work getting those jerseys together, as well as the fan shirts, and working as a team to organize a trip for over 20 from Boston to Florida, I am proud of our year, and so pleased with the efforts of every member! And I know we'll do great things again next year!
I hope I can tell you even more about this trip in the future, but at the moment, I have more than a few assignments that need seeing to!
Happy Sunday! Enjoy a little bit of Duckie. You might have homework due tomorrow, but try frowning through that video! (If this is of any interest to you, I always have been, and always will be, Team Duckie.)