Things are kicking into high gear on campus! With midterms coming up, the rush of tasks to complete leaves me with little time to process everything that unfolds in a week. Luckily, “Rose, Bud, Thorn” is a great Tufts tradition that can be used to take a step back and reflect. The premise is that you share a “rose”, something good that’s already happened, a “bud”, something you’re looking forward to, and a “thorn”, something that was less than ideal. I hope you enjoy reading about the little garden of memories I’ve planted this week!
Rose - Finding Asian-American Community through the CSA and TASC
I’d been really hoping to get to know more Asian Americans in the Tufts community, and being able to grab dinner with my “family” through the Chinese Student Association was such a treat! We ordered takeout from a local Chinese restaurant and had a socially distanced picnic in one of our peer leader’s backyard. Between tucking into the mapo tofu and homemade dumplings, we exchanged stories about our classes and family experiences. Not only was it really nice to be able to vent about my week, but it was also comforting to gain insight into university life by just sitting and listening to what veteran members had to say.
Later in the evening, I also went to the Tufts Asian Student Coalition meeting on Zoom. New members were warmly welcomed into the club, and we got to know each other better by sharing our “river of life” drawings, which reflected pivotal moments in our upbringing and discovery of identity. Although it was virtual, it was such a refreshing change of pace to have a space with people with a shared cultural identity, and I felt really grounded and supported knowing that there was a community looking out in the best interest for me.
Bud - The Indigenous People’s March and Spending Saturday with Friends
I’m really looking forward to going to the Indigenous People’s March tomorrow with some friends in Boston! We’re lucky enough to be in a privileged bubble in college, and going to the march is only the first step to uplifting Indigenous voices and stories that are far too often thrown to the wayside. I’m hoping to learn more at the march about what I can do to step up as an ally to help Indigenous people in the Boston and Medford/Somerville area.
After a stressful week, I’m excited to spend time with a group of friends that I’d like to get to know better. After the march, we’re planning on going to the HMart in Central and the local art store across the street.. It’s the first time that I’m really venturing outside of campus (besides Davis Square), so I’m anticipating having a lot of fun in the company of some wonderful people.
Thorn - My First College All-Nighter
Don’t worry, Mom and Dad, I still took a nap later! On Tuesday evening, I realized that my Cinema4D assignment for my digital arts class would take much longer than expected -- the software is incredibly powerful, so rendering lifelike images on my old Mac can take hours. Digital art is a medium that I’m new to exploring and there’s definitely been a difficult learning curve, so it’s been a lot to manage -- not only to understand all the available tools, but also to produce art that I can be proud of. I also had an additional reading assignment, so I was feeling pretty overwhelmed about completing everything on time.
Thankfully, I didn’t go through the night alone; my roommate and our next-door neighbor worked together in the common room too, encouraging and motivating each other to finish our assignments. As we watched the sun rise over the Rez Quad in the morning, the final image for my project was also finished rendering (at long last!) -- it was a glorious sight. We rewarded ourselves for breakfast with lattes and scones from Mugar, the cafe right next to the basement of our building. It was such sweet relief to be at the other end of the journey together the next day.