School is difficult. In between essays and reading, breakfast bars and hurried dining hall dinners, how can students escape the daily grind? As college students with finals on the horizon, the routine (and many long nights in Tisch library) seems unavoidable. But never fret, fellow Jumbos. There are plenty of ways at Tufts to take a break from it all.
Play with your food
Face it — sometimes it seems as if life revolves around eating. A great time to socialize is in between bites with friends and discuss the day. And some Tufts students have superb ideas about how to spice up meal times with a few simple ingredients:
Eat out: This innovative but not overly involved idea provides new scenery and different types of food. Mix up restaurants, locations and who's buying for some extra fun.
Try a dinner rotation: Senior Courtney Morrissey and some friends all sign up for one day every two weeks to cook, and on that day everyone goes to that person's house for dinner. Competition runs rampant as the friends try to outdo each other by preparing fancier and fancier dishes.
"I thought it would make my life more stressful, but I've found that setting a few hours aside to cook a meal for my friends is exactly what I need to take my mind off school and work," Morrissey said.
Take a Pizza Days break: Late-night meal breaks double as a fun thing to look forward to and an effective way to set a deadline. Ordering pizza at two a.m., for example, can be a good way to take a break from an intense research paper or stock up on calories for an all-nighter. Alternatively, a late-night meal provides a deadline to complete work. This is not necessarily healthy, but it is good motivation to finish reading all of "Ulysses."
Game for a … game?
There are plenty of classic board games to whip out on a rainy afternoon. Some Jumbos suggested Settlers of Catan, Scrabble, Taboo, Cranium, Apples to Apples, Catchphrase and Connect Four, to name a few. There are also video games: Super Smash Brothers (either regular-flavored, Melee or Brawl, depending on your preferences), anything for N-64 (because it's old school) and Halo LAN parties. Some students have come up with more innovative games, as well.
P-p-p-poker face: Have a weekly evening of card game fun. Poker is not just a Lady Gaga song. Make it more competitive: winner can have the last Hostess cupcake.
Scratch ticket nights: Tempt Lady Luck and make a tradition of buying a lottery ticket one night every week with friends. Scratch it off together and see what you get! Put any winnings in a communal tuition fund, or buy groceries for the apartment. Louisa Bradberry, a junior, said that she and her friends have made scratch ticket night a routine, but they take it a step further: every fourth week they buy a five-dollar scratch ticket.
Hall sports revisited: Okay, ResLife, we know we're not allowed to play soccer in dorms, but there are completely legal, fun alternatives. Try a contained game, like Spoons. The basic goal is to get a four-of-a-kind hand by passing cards from a deck through a group of players, each of whom can only hold four cards at a time. The first player to hold a winning set grabs a spoon (from a pile of spoons in the center), at which point the remaining players must race for the rest of the spoons. One person will be left spoonless — like a musical chair and card game hybrid.
One junior who requested to remain anonymous recounted a snowy December morning in his freshman dorm, when spoons was taken to the next level and turned into strip spoons. To make things even more interesting, the spoons were put on the opposite end of the hallway. Some track talent was discovered that day.
Sub-zero Fun: With arctic weather looming in the future, Jumbos have to get inventive with the snow. So find some long underwear, snow pants, wool socks, boots, sweatshirt, winter jacket, scarf, hat, gloves, ski goggles and an inhaler because some classmates have suggested surefire ways to turn these upcoming weeks into a winter Fun-derland.
Sled-scapades: Many students at Tufts "borrow" trays from dining halls and go sledding on various hills around campus. And there's a reason why so many do this: it's awesome, at least according to one student.
"A few times last year I dared to brave the cold and go sledding on trays from Carmichael, and it was amazing. A very fun experience which I highly recommend," sophomore Justin Ferranti said.
Get inventive with sledding locations, but be careful, too. Kevan Mamdouhi, a junior, said that while the library steps are his favorite sledding location, he has also broken a few trays there before. Some tips for the sled speedsters: grease a garbage bag and use that as a sled instead.
Ice-skating: Another fun winter activity is going ice-skating at the Common in Boston. This can be great as a date, fine for a bro-venture (just don't hold hands) and awesome as an icebreaker. Also, take the time for a snowball fight!
Get warm: You can also always cop out. Sophomore Katie Welch said, "There are a lot of good movies that come out during the winter, and going to see one in a warm theater is always a nice way to spend an afternoon or night. Just having movie nights in your dorm is always nice too."
Additionally, you can go to the Museum of Fine Art or the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston for a warm environment and the top Mona Lisa competitors.
So, whether you're an advocate of art projects, a lover of lecture series or a fan of alone time with your rolling pin, there are plenty of ways to play at Tufts. Try both the most basic of board games and something totally creative.
