2017 seems far away, doesn't it? By then, we'll have elected a new president (and you'll vote in that election too), Blue Ivy Carter will have entered kindergarten and Google Glass will have made surfing the Internet in class that much easier.
You have just spent an entire Matriculation ceremony scanning the crowd of your fellow classmates. You have just said goodbye to your parents (promising you'll call later that night). And it is just sinking in that you'll have to walk up and down the Hill a thousand times in the next four years.
Honestly, I think it gets better with each semester, mostly because of the new personalities you get to meet. But beyond the students in your classes and the professors you see two or three times a week, there are so many other members of the Tufts community you haven't crossed paths with yet.
I have been writing for the Daily since my first semester here, and I have had the opportunity to talk to people from just about all walks of life - Tufts Community Union presidents, female computer science majors making strides in the start-up community, students fighting for an Africana studies program, Tufts University Police Department Sergeant Robert McCarthy, University President Anthony Monaco and, in one of my favorite interviews, former Senator Scott Brown (LA '81).
Lucky for you, if you take the time to interact with those around you, you will also have the chance (many times over) to meet more than a handful of the 5,255 undergraduates on campus who are all doing compelling and passion-driven things. Learn from them.
I also expect that we'll be able to help you keep tabs on the Tufts community. More than 150 students on campus contribute to the Daily - ranked by Princeton Review as the 12th best college newspaper in the country, might I add.
Turn to our News section for a breakdown of ongoing campus and community happenings, to Features for in-depth snapshots of issues that impact students, to Arts & Living for a taste of the culture and creativity on- and off-campus, to Sports for all things Jumbos.
Feel free to spend some time reading the comics or doing the Sudoku, but also make sure to check out our Op-Ed and editorial page. If you haven't had the chance to talk to everyone on campus just yet, why not see what views are relayed here? Be intrigued, be outraged, be indifferent. But be supportive. And submit your own opinions as well, whether they follow a similar train of thought or the polar opposite of what you see here.
Find us online - on our website, our blog Jumbo Slice, or on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We, like most other publications, have been fast and furious in expanding our multimedia content, and we bet you'll find something to like, share or retweet.
But more importantly, stop by. We're down in the basement of Curtis Hall, and we love good company and new faces. Whether you'd like to comment, offer constructive criticism, join our team or just read, you are a part of the process. We want to learn from you, and we hope you'll learn something from us too.
So, welcome 2017. Take it all in.
Most sincerely,
Hannah Fingerhut
Editor-in-Chief
