Despite all the excitement you have for starting the next chapter of your life, as you stand today on the President’s Lawn for Matriculation, listening to President Anthony Monaco’s effusive welcoming speech, you might be stricken with some feelings of reservation: nervousness, because you don’t have any friends yet, or stress, because you haven’t decided on what classes to take, much less your major. It also doesn’t help to know that your parents won’t be one door knock away from assuaging any of your doubts like they have been for the last 18 years. But as you embark on your first year on the hill, try to put any hesitations you may have aside so you can indulge in the craze of your first year.
The number of opportunities that will come your way in your college years, especially this first one, may be overwhelming. Never again will you be in an environment where your only job is to absorb the world around you alongside equally passionate peers. There’s nothing stopping you from having coffee with acclaimed professors or joining a club dedicated to discussing and consuming cheese or exploring the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway (look it up!). The possibilities are endless.
But you simply won’t get this full experience without leaving your comfort zone, without pushing yourself in new or challenging ways. Go to Hillel Shabbat dinner, even if you aren’t Jewish. Take a stab at COMP 11, even if you don’t know how to change your computer background. Tufts prides itself on the diversity in its students, courses and clubs, and there’s no reason to hesitate exploring every bit of it. Who knows what hidden passions you might end up unearthing.
The best part of all this is that any mistakes or failures you experience along the way aren’t nearly as detrimental as they would be in the “real world.” It is better to have too much fun at homecoming, fail to submit a paper on time and suffer the 10% deduction on your essay than it is to turn in work late at your first job out of college: Tufts is the last place where we get the luxury of this kind of safety net. So make good use of it. The important thing is that you know how you erred and learn from that mistake, so that it doesn’t repeat itself in a more serious situation. Tufts provides you with the training wheels so that you can go out and explore as much as you want without fear of falling face first.
So consider going into freshman year with an open mind and hungry for adventure. You have four whole years to be exempt from the responsibilities inherent in the world outside of the college bubble, and it’d be a shame not to take advantage of that. Welcome to Tufts, Class of 2019.
