Ben Rachel is a sophomore studying economics and computer science. Ben Rachel can be reached at benjamin.rachel@tufts.edu.
Wow. This is crazy. The semester is already coming to an end. Or, I guess we still have to survive finals. It’s definitely been a semester. To be honest, it’s definitely been a YEAR.
It took me a while to figure out what I was going to write about for this column. Initially, I was thinking about taking up a friend’s offer to ghostwrite for me, but I quickly thought otherwise because, come on, my loyal fans would’ve spotted an impostor. Later on, I found myself sitting on Prez Lawn, enjoying the beautiful weather and sun. It was one of those moments of peace and serenity — something that I realized I hadn’t felt in a while. I distinctly remember looking around and seeing an inordinate number of students lounging on Adirondack chairs and picnic blankets, smiling and laughing with each other. It brought a smile to my face.
Wow, I am so excited to be writing this edition of my column sporting my Nike Killshot 2 Leather shoes, comfortably lounging in my Nike Sportswear Tech Fleece sweatpants and bundled in my Nike Club Men’s Fleece Pullover Hoodie. What a day to be completely covered in Nike merchandise, sitting in the Nike library, writing this column on my NikeBook Pro using Nike Docs. I just love using Nike (not sponsored)!
This past week, one of my future housemates gave me a challenge for this column. She texted me (ignoring the very important text I had previously sent her) to say that I should make this column about “Tufts geese s-------ting up a storm all over campus and then like to draw some sort of moral parallel to that.”
Well, well, well. It’s like déjà vu. We are back to our favorite time of the semester: midterm season! It’s a beautiful and wonderful time for all Tufts students — spending hours in Tisch cubicles, fighting fellow students for a table outside of Kindlevan Café and crashing out in the Tisch basement (a nod to my past article). For my dear, loyal readers, you can already tell how midterm season is going for me with this delayed publication. I hope you all were able to get through the weekend without my profound insights and comedic tone to guide you.
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.
When I am out and about on campus, many of my fans often ask me how I come up with content for this column (after asking for my autograph of course). Normally, I give a witty answer or deflect the question because I truly don’t have a concrete answer. Some of my publication ideas have needed to marinate for a long time (I have a pretty extensive notes page on my phone) and others have been created at 2 a.m. — the morning of the due date. There is such a dichotomy between how my ideas are procured that I don’t have a definite answer as to which one leads to better content.
I am writing this column in the middle of a packed Tisch, surrounded by stressed students and working off of three Yerba Mates (I’m shaking). Even the reading room is full; I had to share a cubicle with a Fletcher student. It feels like finals season brings everyone out of their dorms to shotgun energy drinks and complain about their workloads.
Like many other Chicagoans, I am a fervent Chicago Bears fan. For those of you who do not know, the Chicago Bears are an American football team located in, you guessed it, Chicago, Illinois. Those who have followed the NFL this year will understand where this anecdote is going.
Well, well, well. Here we are again with another column entry this semester about ‘tough times.’
