Remember junior high school dances? Vanilla Ice was blaring out on the dance floor, lights were flashing around the old gymnasium, and streamers disguised the old basketball hoop. Oh yeah...the mood was there, but the dance floor was empty. It was like everyone was too cool to dance, but it was really that no one wanted to be the first to do so. To be the first one dancing meant that everyone would watch you; all eyes would be focused on you, noticing your every move. That's an accurate description of hell for a 13-year-old. Junior High Dance Syndrome is when everyone is standing still, waiting for someone else to break the ice. We know that once someone does break the ice, we're all going to have a good time, but we still wait for that other person to do it for us.
The real problem arises when everyone just keeps waiting, and before you know it the dance is over... and it sucked. But that was Junior High - hopefully your senior proms were different - and we've grown past that. Or have we?
At Tufts we pride ourselves on academics; there are more people in the reading room on a Thursday night then there are in the Campus Center. So we do our work outside of the classroom, and perform well on tests. But I can tell you first-hand that many Tufts students have horrible classroom habits. If you've ever been in a recitation you know what I'm talking about. Recitations are supposed to be helpful tools that serve as question/answer and discussion sessions. This is where we take the knowledge from the lectures and apply it, or clarify it, or develop it. So the TA asks a question - I swear to God you can hear crickets chirping, the old heating system is humming louder than ever before, and you suddenly notice that one sick kid, wheezing and blowing his nose - the only sounds actually coming from a student. People look around the room as if the question doesn't apply to them. Everyone is looking for someone else to break the ice, for someone else to make that first step out to the dance floor, but it never happens. The TA tries to reword the question in several different ways to get someone to say something - anything! But it doesn't happen. Finally the TA is forced to call on someone, and this person acts like he just woke up. He sits up straight, clears his throat, and says...the most brilliant thing. Yes, brilliant! Tufts students are smart, but when we do have something to say, we just don't say it.
Why must we be trapped in Jr. High? Why can't someone speak up for a change? I hate breaking the awkward silence, but I hate the prolonged awkward silence even more. For an academic university filled mostly with students from the first decile of their respective high schools, one would expect more enthusiasm in the classroom. So I plead with you, Jumbos: say something the next time your teacher asks you a question. Say what you're thinking. Let's just have a normal discussion for once.
This syndrome also applies to the social life at Tufts (or lack there of). The other day my friend Alec said to me, "I want to start a bar on campus. It'll have a big screen TV, music, alcohol...That will really spice up the social life around here." Then I reminded him that only one-fourthof the students could legally drink, and that Hotung serves beer anyway. He tried to explain to me how Hotung was lame. I wouldn't buy it. What most people don't realize is that Hotung really is decent. It has a big screen TV, food, drinks, DJs, live bands, etc. Of course, it is still empty every weekend. If Hotung were a "cool" place to be, everyone would come and have a good time. If a group of people hung out at Hotung, maybe danced a little, more people would come. The more people who come, the better the party. All it takes is that first step out on the dance floor. So, from now on, I declare Hotung the cool college hangout. If you don't go to Hotung, you're not cool. If you're not cool, then the world will come to an end.
Let's not be in Junior High anymore. Grab a partner and head out to the dance floor. Let's all get our grooves on, and have fun for a change.
Arun Lamba is a sophomore majoring in economics and physics.
