“The next Orange Line train to Oak Grove is now arriving,” uttered the MBTA train voice. People hastened through the fare gate while a determined and seemingly irritated look painted the riders’ faces (rightly so). My dreaded rush-hour commute from JFK/UMass station, where my high school was located, to Sullivan Station in East ‘Ville was almost complete. I glared at my phone as I waited for my mother to pull up in her silver 1999 Nissan van; she was late as usual. To alleviate the boredom that ensued, I turned to Instagram, then Snapchat, and finally Facebook. My efforts proved unsuccessful.
Suddenly, I received an email with the subject “Your Admissions Decision to Tufts University.” I remember logging on to the decision portal and seeing colorful confetti spread across my iPhone screen. The words “Congratulations” jumped off the page meanwhile tears of joy and pride trickled down my cheeks. Tears, a few gracias a Dios, and tender hugs characterized my mother’s reaction to my fourth college acceptance and to the fact that I’d be the first in my family to attend university. After a period of elation from my acceptances, I knew I’d have to decide where to spend the next four years. Inevitably, the question of “Is Tufts too close to home?” emerged.
While I concluded “no” to this question, in this blog post, I’ll outline the pros and cons of attending college geographically close to home. Before we delve in, I want to acknowledge some of my privileges (attending a private high school, getting accepted to multiple institutions, and receiving financial aid) and remind us to actively reflect on how certain privileges and oppressions impact the way we maneuver this world. Furthermore, not everyone may feel at home in their physical address because home is about a feeling. Lastly, these pros and cons are greatly influenced by my experiences as a first-gen student, second-gen immigrant, and low-income queer Latinx.
Let’s start with the cons:
- Responsibilities: When my grandfather arrived from Guatemala to Boston, he worked two full-time and two part-time jobs. Aside from illustrating the tenacity of immigrants within the U.S., I tell you this because hard-work is a reality for my family. From senior year of high school until the end of my first-year at Tufts, I worked at Whole Foods. While I’d hoped to leave my part-time job in preparation for my transition into college, my financial responsibilities to myself and my family prohibited me from doing so. Unfortunately, my family couldn’t support me financially prior to Tufts, let alone assist me with the indirect costs of college (textbooks, school supplies, and dorm essentials). Furthermore, I knew few jobs on campus would compensate me as much as Whole Foods did. As a result, I stayed at my part-time job and my responsibilities from back home followed me to Tufts.
- Escaping social anxieties (re: making friends as a first-year): My friends and I often joke about our first-year selves. I remember the cringe-worthy superficial conversations in the Campus Center, and the sense of desperation I felt to find my group of friends as a first-year. Anywhere you decide to go, it’s going to be a challenge transitioning and finding your people. In my experience, I was timid and still had a lot of self-growth to do. Moving past my social anxieties seemed like a monumental task and since the majority of my friends from home were in the area (most didn’t have the opportunity to attend college or were taking community college classes), it was easy for me to escape my fears. Thankfully, I began to realize this toward the end of my first-year, and I met my best friend! Fall of junior year I’d also meet another two of my closest friends. However, this required me to confront my anxieties and to be present on campus.
- Family pressures/leaving home: This is an issue that I’m constantly grappling with. When you live ten minutes away from Tufts, it’s hard not to feel pressure to visit your family. Your family will most likely miss you, and you’ll most likely miss them. However, juggling classes, extra-curriculars, and friends has already proven difficult for me. While I wish I could spend more time with my family, I made a commitment to myself to be present and active on campus. My family has been understanding of this and we’ve coped by calling on an almost daily basis. Furthermore, winter and summer breaks have been opportunities for me to see my fam. For me, my life at Tufts is much different compared to life at my permanent address. At first, I felt like I had never left home. However, I quickly realized that I had fostered community at Tufts and in many ways had entered a new world.
- Gentrification: Somerville (the Ville to some) is not what it used to be and gentrification is one of the many factors that has changed it. It has been frustrating for me to witness how my university, as an institution, and its wealthy students specifically, contribute to the displacement of Somerville and Medford residents. That being said, I have sought to direct this energy toward fighting for increased on-campus housing, fair wages, rent control, and systemic economic and political change.
The pros:
- Convenience and logistics: There are many benefits to living close to home that I learned to appreciate over the years. First, move-in every year is a breeze in comparison to my peers that live out-of-state. My parents simply drive their rickety aqua-colored mini-van ten minutes down the Fells and the whole move-in process begins. Fortunately, I don’t have to worry about the cost of plane tickets or storing my belongings. When deciding between Tufts and the other university I was considering, this greatly influenced my decision. Living close to home has saved me a significant amount of money.
- Knowing your way around town: When I need a haircut, I take the 89 bus down Broadway to Wally’s. If I’m in the mood for a hearty breakfast, The Neighborhood in Union Square is my spot. For dessert, Zinneken’s, New Dong Khanh Restaurant, and Helados Juli’s are some of my favorite places. Finding a doctor or dentist was also not a worry for me. Being from the area means I know what restaurants to hit up, how to ride the T, and simply am able to easily maneuver the surrounding area. While most people learn how to do these things throughout their four years at Tufts, I’m an expert.
- Taking a break when you need one: “Do you go home often?” is a question I almost always receive when people discover I’m from the area. While my answer to this question is a nonchalant “not really,” I know that I could easily return home if I wanted to, and I have. When the pressures and anxieties of Tufts overwhelm me, I have been fortunate enough to return home. Sometimes it’s simply nice to exit the “Tufts bubble” and interact with my family and friends. It gives me the opportunity to take a break if I need it because college can be stressful.
- Developing a new appreciation for home: Lastly, being at Tufts has allowed me to see my home from what seems like an outside perspective. I’m constantly reminded of how special Somerville, Medford, and Boston are to me and how fortunate I am to have grown up in these cities.