There are many advantages to going to a small, liberal arts school such as Tufts University. Lots of opportunities for pursuing passions, developing an extensive professional network with both professors and alumni and, of course, meeting new people — not too many though. With that said, while the benefits are substantial, which is probably why a lot of y’all are here, there are downsides that come with it, one of the main ones being seeing everyone you know whether you like it or not.
Naturally during our time in college, we meet people. Sometimes those people become our best friends, whereas other times they become our “opps.” Nevertheless, no matter what the relationship looks like, we will continue to see them around campus. Whether walking up the hill to class, sitting in The Sink or enjoying a lovely ride on the Davis Shuttle, you will run into them.
It’s great running into friends, don’t get me wrong. The side I am more concerned about is running into opps, which, surprisingly, I have a plethora of. A casual Dewick meal can quickly turn into a game of hide-and-seek or perpetual eye tag at the sight of an opp. Both people pretend not to have seen the other, but take quick, sneaky peeks to be nosy and do a sly nod to point them out to their friends.
It all seems too childish. Why do we even have opps to begin with? Shouldn’t we be past that as a society? I mean, I’m not going to change, but maybe you all can (especially my opps). It’s gotten to the point where my friends and I had to create a naming system to talk about people in public because we’ve had many incidents where we’ll be talking with full government name-drops and find out they’re right behind us. But still, the inherent awkwardness and uncomfortableness of seeing people you don’t want to see is definitely a downside of going to this school — especially when you two are walking on the same path going different directions, bound to pass each other. Like, what do you do? Turn around? Stare at the floor? I’ve personally mastered the art of slowly fading into nothingness to avoid any awkwardness.
Just like all things though, this is a two-sided coin. While it always sucks to catch a glimpse of an opp or a BNAT (Big Name At Tufts), there are so many amazing people here. Throughout my year-and-a-half as a Tufts student, I am still shocked by how wonderful the people are here. Being able to meet all these unique individuals with distinctive and interesting anecdotes and backgrounds is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. College is made ever-more special by the amalgamation of so many different personalities.
The other day, while I was at Kindlevan (somehow snagging a table), diligently working, three of my friends, each a stranger to the others, ended up joining me, one by one. Starting off, one of the first friends I made at Tufts arrived. Soon after, my friend who has essentially carried me through my computer science classes sat down. Finally, one of my future housemates joined us. None of them knew each other; I was the only connection between them — to be honest, it’s a testament to how incredible of a friend I am that my warm presence and sublime friendship alone outweighed the threat of three complete strangers. When they sat first down, I thought I would have to carry the conversation to try to mitigate the inherent awkwardness. However, to my utter surprise, they literally became best friends. It was the most random group of people I could have ever imagined, yet they were engaged in deep conversation the entire time. Meanwhile, I just sat there, relishing in the power of my friendship-matchmaking abilities.
So sure, Tufts is small, and yeah sometimes that means dodging people we would rather not ever see again. But at the same time, it also means unexpectedly deepening friendships, forming new connections and realizing, despite our differences, we’re all a part of this same little chaotic community.
As much as I might complain about the awkward games of eye tag and dropping first, middle and last names of someone who’s literally right behind me, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Because for every opp I have to strategically avoid in Dewick, there’s a spontaneous Kindlevan meetup that reminds me why I love this place. And at the end of the day, isn’t that what makes college so special?
You gonna keep playing eye tag, or you gonna holla at yo boy,
Ben Rachel
