Congrats.
You’ve successfully become one of us, many moons after hitting that “submit” button on the Common Application. So give yourself a pat on the back and buckle up before you start the first chapter in your Jumbo life. Oh, and don’t forget to say goodbye to sweet and bitter things you’ve known, whether they be your parents, dogs, high school nemesis or significant other who now goes to Brown.
In no time, you will pull your first, dreadful all-nighter “studying” with your new friends, drop a course which you are about to fail, post your first Tufts related meme on Tufts Memes for Quirky Queens and think you are about the funniest person ever to be alive, watch your pre-med hallmate become an English major, pick up a copy of our beautiful paper just for the sudoku and articulate why Carm is objectively a better dining hall than Dewick.
Also in no time, many of you will constantly feel you are behind of all things in a school full of people who got 5s on 12 AP subjects tests and some 1550s on the SAT. Many of you will get rejected by the clubs you’ve applied to be a part of and get overwhelmed by the challenges that come in your way. You will still love Tufts, but you will also figure out what you hate about Tufts. Sometimes, you will feel powerless because of the terms of life you can’t change.
However, don’t let such frustrations stop you from reaching new heights and stepping out of your comfort zone. You will learn to cope with the fear of uncertainty, and realize that while grades are important, they are not paramount to you finding out who you are and what makes you happy. And you will soon find out that it’s okay to not know where you are going, as long as you are not stuck and keep on going. And this goes the same for when you get stuck in a moment with complacency.
As I welcome you to the Hill on behalf of the Tufts Daily masthead, I challenge you to never settle. Yes, it will be difficult because moments of success are sweet and those of misfortune and failure are devastating. I admit people tend to stick with what they are used to, and it’d be a lie if I said I haven’t been so with my choices at Tufts. But don’t you want to know what Tufts and its people have to offer?
See, listen, learn, do, make and experience all that Tufts has to offer. Go to your first dance performance at Tufts, join a club you’ve never tried before, and write your first story for the Tufts Daily. You will get stronger from the challenges you run into, and learn how to survive, thrive and make do, wherever you find yourself to be. I look forward to you saying that your time at Tufts was full of new ideas, things, people and many learning experiences, rather than a boring four years of grinding to get your Bachelor’s.
So off you go. Best of luck out there and hit me up when you got some stories to tell.
Cheers,
Shim
Editor-in-Chief
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