Sledding With the President
If any of you have been on my Tufts tour, you may remember me huffing and puffing as I walked up the steps next to the president’s lawn, enthusiastically telling the group that, “when the weather is nice, the president’s lawn is covered with students, studying, picnicking, and hammocking, but when it snows, the lawn turns into a massive sledding hill.” Then, I continue to share that Anthony Monaco, our president, sometimes sleds with the students. While I’ve never seen proof of this myself, there is photographic evidence of President Monaco sledding down the president’s lawn on Wikipedia (go check it out for yourself!).
This past weekend, the sky dumped a colossal amount of snow down on Boston, but Tufts was ready. The maintenance staff put down tons of different colors of road salt. The administration warned us to stay off the roads and take extra food from the dining halls in case of an emergency. The social chair of Tufts Tap ordered a sled.
Saturday’s “blizzard warning” scared me into practical hibernation in my room, but on Sunday, all of Tufts came out to play in the snow, including me. Dean Lizarribar, our Dean of Student Affairs, emailed every undergraduate, encouraging us to play in the snow by opening up a “Snowpocalypse 2022 Photo and Video Contest.” Determined to submit the winning picture and win $50 in JumboCash, I donned my warmest sweatpants and boots and rushed over to the president’s lawn. I found the tap social chair with her new sled, as well as the rest of Tufts Tap, and we joined the lines of students and local children, waiting to take our turn sledding down the hill!
After an hour of frollicking in the snow (and sadly, no sighting of President Monaco), I convinced some of my fellow tappers to take a picture with me to submit for the Dean’s contest. Unfortunately, all we got was the cringe-y picture featured above, so I chose to cherish it and use it for this blog instead. Once we got up from our very awkward positions on the ground, we headed to Dewick-MacPhie dining hall and loaded up on Dim Sum Brunch, a specialty themed meal.
My Emma’s Advice for you today is to embrace your youthful side–one can never be too old to play in the snow, and I am so glad that Tufts fosters a playful culture that allows me to be a kid again, weather permitting.
So did I sled with the president? No. But I did have an amazing, snowy day with my friends and get to relive my childhood. And who knows? Maybe after the next big snowstorm, I’ll be able to tell my tour group the tale of the time I sled with the president.