Tips for SMFA First-Years
To be honest, my first year at SMFA at Tufts was a bumpy road. I laughed a lot, cried a lot, but most importantly, I learned countless important life…
This Too Shall Pass
The beginning of the year can be daunting, even to college-experienced upperclassmen. I always feel very overwhelmed at the beginning as I scurry to cram in lunches with friends I haven’t seen all summer, decide if I am set on the classes in which I am enrolled, order textbooks, and begin club activities. Balancing all of that can be a lot, especially during these uncertain Covid times. While the first week was by no means stress-free for me, here are my tips and tricks to keep stress at a minimum.
Friends: See friends when it is convenient for you. Just because it is the first week back doesn’t mean you need to see everyone right away. I pushed off seeing some of my friends until the second week, and by then I was able to enjoy my time with them and not feel like I had to set a time limit on our time together. You also may run into friends spontaneously—I ran into my friends Aleksia and Katelyn outside one of my lecture halls on the first day, and we took the picture above!
Classes: Don’t stress too much about which courses you should take. Ideally, I take four classes each semester. This semester, I started off going to 5 classes because I was on the waitlist for the fifth, and I wanted to see if I would get in before deciding which class to drop. Inevitably, this led to a lot of indecision when I got into the class and had to decide which course I didn’t want to take. This is a common predicament among Tufts students, as many of us are intellectually curious and want to learn as much as possible! Realistically though, you can’t take every interesting class offered, so my realization this year as I started my fifth semester at Tufts, was that the most important thing about a class is the professor and the students. I probably won’t remember most of the information I learn now in 30 years anyway, so choosing a class isn’t a make-it or break-it deal. What matters is the experience in the moment, so I decided to go with classes in which I have some friends and like the professors best.
Textbooks: Figure out the cheapest way to get your textbooks, and do it early. Many courses require more than one textbook, e-text, or book, and the price can add up to make quite a dent in your wallet. That being said, there are many ways to ensure that you get the cheapest books possible. First, our Tufts Textbook Exchange, run by the TCU Senate, has many books listed and you can search online to find the books for your classes. Every semester, I have been able to find at least ¼ of my books here and pay a greatly discounted price to own the book. Then, I can sell it back at the end of the semester. My next path is to check the Tufts Bookstore website and rent as many books as I can “used.” You can still highlight and underline in these, and return them at the end of the semester. If you don’t order early, you may have to buy them or rent “new,” which is more expensive. If that is the case, the last resort is Amazon/Chegg/another online seller, where you can order your books for cheaper. Keep in mind, it does take some time for them to get delivered though!
Clubs: Remember that club work is fun work. I assumed several leadership positions this year, and I found that getting clubs started can be difficult. As the co-director of Tufts Tap and the philanthropy chair for Kappa Alpha Theta, I had to start coordinating rehearsals, events, etc. for the semester right away. I was stressed at first with everything on my plate, but it helped to remember that these tasks are all fun work to help organizations that I care about thrive.
So yes, during the first week you have a lot to figure out, but what helped me is just remembering that it gets better, and you don’t have to figure everything out during the first week! Once the semester gets rolling, and you’ve caught up with friends, set your schedule, ordered your textbooks, and standardized club meeting times, it’s smooth sailing.
My Emma’s advice for today is for anyone who tends to feel overwhelmed at the beginning like me: Take time for yourself; your work can wait! For me last week, that free-time was spent going on a run in the rain. To anyone who knows me, that sentence may sound crazy—I don’t run or particularly like the rain—but taking that step away from work and exercising really cleared my mind and helped me get out some energy. Whether it is running, or screaming, or sleeping, remember that the stress of the first few weeks is fleeting—this too shall pass.
