I think it’s essential as a college student living on my own for the first time to maintain rituals and habits that bring me joy. College is a time of constant change, but I think it’s important to remember that you can still do many of the things you loved to do at home at college.
Having Sunday breakfast with my family used to bring me so much joy when I lived at home. There’s something so comforting about a big Sunday breakfast. My family is a busy one, so I loved that we all got to sit down together and slow down for a while. Dewick dining hall also understands the comfort of Sunday breakfast. Sunday breakfast at Dewick has become one of the things I look forward to every week. Dewick pulls out all the stops: french toast, pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon, sausage, you name it, it’s probably there! My friends and I go together, talk about the week ahead, and enjoy our delicious breakfast. It’s a perfect way to start the week. Sunday breakfast was something I loved when I lived at home, I’m so glad I get to keep up the tradition with my newfound family at Tufts.
I also love to explore, so much so that my high school friends and I went on a two-week backpacking trip through Europe together last summer. When I moved away from my small town of Sun Valley, Idaho for college, I knew I wanted to continue to explore new places. Since coming to Tufts, I have gone into Boston and the surrounding areas almost every weekend. I love exploring the city I get to call my home for the next four years. My love of exploring has only grown since coming to Tufts, and I don’t see that stopping anytime soon!
I’m a big reader, and I was worried that in college I wouldn’t have the time to read for fun anymore. Although I do have more reading and homework than I did in high school, I still have the time to read “fun” books. In fact, I think since coming to college I’ve read more than I did my senior year of high school.
At the local movie theater in my town, they used to do something called “five-dollar Tuesdays” when you could see any movie you wanted for five dollars. I love my home movie theater, and my friends and I made it our mission to go to as many five-dollar Tuesdays as we could. While the Somerville Theater doesn’t offer five-dollar Tuesdays, it does bear a remarkable resemblance to my hometown movie theater, and my new college friends and I have had quite a few movie nights there. To sum things up, my life at Tufts is very different from my life in my hometown, but I’ve still managed to continue to do the things that bring me joy, regardless of if I’m in Boston or Idaho.