Why Tufts? Because I Wish I Were There Now
Then:
We met through Benjamin Baum and a pile of Jumbos. I quickly developed a crush on Tufts, which only intensified when I stepped on campus. Despite the pouring rain, students were strolling in flip-flops, sheltering their books from the drops with loving care, while the cannon dripped with fresh paint. Soon, I began to yearn to sit in Dewick, eat waffles and discuss the Experimental College's wacky courses with fellow Jumbos. In the midst of Tufts' goofy nerdiness, with tiny elephants dancing in my stomach, I fell in love. Why Tufts? Because being anywhere else would break my heart.
Now:
A hundred words could never do the trick to express how thankful I am that I'm spending my college years at Tufts. But my cheesy love story from almost four years ago, other than foreshadowing my love affair with Dewick, the best dining hall in the world, captures remarkably well why I love Tufts. It still rains, and people still wear footwear that doesn't suit the weather. I have a folder of my favorite photos of the painted cannon on my phone. And the Experimental College still turns out wildly innovative and fascinating classes. At the end of my Junior year, I am not the naïve high school senior I was when I wrote my admissions essays, but I am still just as much in love with Tufts as I was back then.
This year's Why Tufts reflection is particularly bittersweet, because I find myself abroad, far away from many of the people that have made my time at Tufts so incredible. In a way, the distance exacerbates my feelings. Pictures of a snowy Tufts remind me of sledding down the Prez Lawn on a plastic box cover for hours until it finally broke. Snapchats of friends studying far into the night take me back to the nights when my best friend and I would stay up, pretending to do work, but really just laughing for hours. And triumphant photos of the full-time Tufts Dining workers fill me with joy and excitement to work alongside them all again in a few months.
Why Tufts? Because, through all it has given me, it made my heart whole.