The Wonderful Thing About Tufts Admissions

As I think is incredibly obvious from the Admissions blog and Twitter account that the Tufts Admissions team keeps, Tufts is in general a super fun and friendly place to be.

I’ve always been of the philosophy that the personalities of an admissions team at any given school is very indicative of the personality of the school overall- which in my opinion, is only logical. After all, it’s the admissions team that decides which students are accepted! Dan Grayson, one of the admissions officers, totally agrees with me on this, FYI.

In this way, I’m always proud to say that I go to Tufts and know admissions officers like Dan (who treated me to Thai food the other day- thank you, Dan! And all you single ladies, I think Dan is total marriage material. If you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it! Just saying. I hope he doesn’t read this part cause then he’d just get embarrassed and trip on his own feet or something ). Really though. I’m thrilled with these faces of our university and I think potential students can learn a lot about Tufts through reading all the blogs that are kept through the admissions website.

I do think it’s a little harder to really get a feel for what it’s like when applying as a transfer, though. There’s no transfer admissions team blog, and I’m the only blogger currently writing about the transfer experience.

Well, I’m happy to inform all concerned transfer potentials that the transfer admissions team is really really awesome! After lunch with Dan on Tuesday, he took me back to the admissions office to meet Denny, the man who basically oversees the transfer decision process. I had tried to meet him earlier this year, only to discover to my greatest dismay that he was out of the office at the time

Denny, who is busy all the time, was only excited to see me. He not only knew who I was right away, but he remembered my application and the names of other transfer students I told him about. Plus, Denny has a little table covered with delicious snacks that he told me to come and eat anytime I want. Transfer students, if you’ve never gone to see Denny, the macadamia nuts and chocolates he keeps in his office should be reason enough! Though he’s just really great in general

I have a bit of a history with Denny. Denny, in some crazy moment, somehow decided to admit me to Tufts- and the great part is, he really helped me out by giving me my decision early. There are plenty of reasons why, but in short I was still in Kenya, my spot for another school would only be held until the end of April (while other decisions were to come out in May), and I was panicking all around. My friends in the States scurried to help make phone calls for me while I e-mailed admissions offices, and not a single school was helpful. Except for Tufts and Denny!

I very strongly feel that there is wisdom in knowing which rules to break under special instances, and I’ve never had much of a tolerance for those who always follow the rules no matter what. When Denny went and read my application early, he was doing something unusual, but it was the result of an informed decision and careful consideration of my situation. All other schools (which will certainly remain unnamed) were kind of, well, douchebags (Am I allowed to say this on an admissions blog? Sorry if not!). Though I knew plenty of people here before I even enrolled, I think that this was my first real impression of what the Tufts community is like and I liked what I saw.

But anyway, I think it sums Tufts up in general- we break the rules when we see they need to be broken and we care about you. Every single member of the Tufts community- whether it’s Denny the admissions officer or Larry Bacow, the president of our university- pays attention to the students and is here to help them out. Another reason I love Tufts

How To Feel Like A Young College Student Again

With finals coming up and a ton of work looming in the horizon, I did what any reasonable & responsible young college student would do this weekend- I got dressed up with a friend, took the T to Central, and spent almost three hours eating one of the most delicious, most beautiful, and most expensive meals I’ve ever had.

Wait, what?

To be fair, I was eating at the restaurant so I could write a paper for my food, nutrition, and culture class taught by Stephen Bailey. Of his many creative final paper assignment options, one of them was to eat at a restaurant considered “fine dining” or “high cuisine” and write a paper about it while applying some anthropological theory.

Read: Eat yummy food!

After stuffing our bellies and emptying our wallets (but gladly), my friend Angel and I were heading back to the T stop when we got sidetracked by music coming out of a place that looked like a lot of fun. Turns out, one of my (and her) favorite bands, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, was playing that night!

So of course we bought tickets, had our hands stamped, danced in our fancy clothes, missed the last subway, and then rushed home in the snow.

It was a Saturday night well spent

OneWorld: Live Blogging Style

9:57 AM: I’m not at the OneWorld Global Crafts Bazaar yet! Woke up this morning and realized I hadn’t yet printed brochures or attached tags to some of the bracelets. Whoops. Hopefully my perpetually late self will be there in half an hour… if I ever manage to take off the absurdly comfortably bath robe I’m wearing?

10:25 AM: Running down from Carmichael to the campus center. My rolling bag, which is stuffed with baskets, bracelets, kangas, and kitenges, is very unevenly distributed in weight. I continuously knock my bag over and trip as people stare.

10:32 AM: Yay! I’ve made it and am setting my table up.

11:19 AM: People are trickling in  and African music is playing over the speakers. Someone come and buy something from me! I’m on the upper floor of Hotung

11:47 AM: I get photographed by someone from the Tufts Daily, who coincidentally knows a girl I went to Kenya with. Tufts is such a small community, and I love it

12:00 PM: I’m hungry and the samosas smell amazing. I might sell my first born just to get someone to bring me some.

12:11 PM: I just made my first sale! I feel like a real fundraiser now. Oh, and someone gave me a cupcake. I love life right now.

12:29 PM: Currently running three tables on my own. FCS, Vagina Monologues, and Travel for Change.

1:42 PM: Sales are picking up, yay! My friend Amalia who I went to Kenya with is here keeping me company for a little bit. I’ve been meeting a lot of cool people who are interested in doing something with Travel for Change- yay for Tufts networking

1:51 Performances have begun in Hotung! First up: poetry readings. There are more throughout the day!

My friend Angel and I at our Vagina Monologues table

2:13 PM: Super super super cool dance performance going on right now. I miss Africa!

3:07 PM: Laptop has died! Hence, unfortunate lack of updates. The last amazing performance of the day is wrapping up soon here in Hotung.

3:23 PM: I love how many people I meet here who have been to Africa or are interested in it! I want to hug everyone who buys something.

Some more pictures of the performances.

3:36 PM: The last performance just ended. Wow, five hours really go by fast… after I clean up, I’ll be heading to an event by 85 Broads at Danish Pastry House- fondue and food! And of course, I’m just obsessed with Danish Pastry House in general

4:14 PM: Everyone is wrapping up here. I’m still at my table hoping that some last minute stragglers will decide to come by, maybe donate a few thousand dollars make a purchase.

4:30 PM: People walk around with their wallets out, taunting me. A man went up to me and asked if credit card is accepted, then quickly said he was asking about other tables in general when I answered that I couldn’t accept credit cards. Boooo!

4:32 PM: Tired and I want to head out- packing up now. Next stop: Danish Pastry House and then watching Star Trek on IMAX (I am a proud Trekkie, believe it or not!). A man just walked by who reminds me of Colonel Sanders from KFC. I giggled.

Live Blogging

Dan, who is in my opinion one of the best admissions officers ever, has started an interesting little experiment on the admissions blog- live blogging. This has, by far, been one of my favorite posts on that blog!

The ever talented and creative Chase e-mailed the bloggers suggesting we do a little experiment in live blogging ourselves. Since I’m very rarely in one place with access to a computer long enough to make regular updates, I’ve decided to go ahead and do my experiment on Friday, where I will be running two tables at the OneWorld Global Crafts Bazaar, which will be held at the campus center.

Just a little bit of background, as copied from the Facebook group:

Come enjoy FREE FOOD, buy fair trade gifts for the HOLIDAYS, listen to great music, and learn about initiatives around the world dedicated to fighting poverty!

For more information, see below:

- On campus student international, development, and cultural groups will lead tables at the bazaar to encourage students to learn more and become involved in international initiatives that combat global poverty.
- Some groups will partake in selling fairly traded crafts as they emphasize related regional or global challenges facing the artisans.
- Non-profit organizations that focus on establishing sustainable incomes for artisans and empowering women will provide many of the crafts. In order to reach out to the local community, we also plan to invite artists from the area to bring them as vendors and spokespeople at the bazaar.
- All proceeds will go to a micro-finance organization that directly provides small, low interest loans to artisans in developing nations.

I will be running a table for Vagina Monologues, the play I’m producing, and a table for Travel for Change, the non-profit I’ve been working with since September 2008. If you’re interested in making some purchases, come check it out! I’ll be selling gorgeous African cloths (which my friends have gone crazy over!), baskets, bracelets, and recruiting potential interns. There’ll be many more tables, lots of food, and some really really really cool performances going on.

Check in starting around 9 AM on Friday to receive updates from me! I expect it’ll be a rather eventful day & am aiming to update every hour at least. What better way is there to learn about a not-so-average day at Tufts?

Happy Thanksgiving!

With the holiday season, it’s pretty standard to write about what one is grateful for. So here’s a short list of things I’m thankful for:

• Friends riding the Bolt Bus with me- otherwise I would have overslept and missed my bus home this morning!
• Home, home, home. Being spoiled by my mom as soon as I get picked up. Big hugs from my dad. Laughing at funny things with my older brother 
• My own bed- ’nuff said!!
• Seeing people I love from home, people who have been in my life for the past 7 or 8 years. I’ve only realized recently just how lucky I am that I’ve had the same friends for this long. I certainly wouldn’t be the same person without them.
• Not having to wear flip flops while showering!

But in keeping with the theme of this blog… I’m incredibly grateful to be here at Tufts. In a few months, I’ve made amazing friends, strengthened friendships with people I knew before I even got into Tufts, and I’ve learned so so much more than I was expecting. I don’t regret coming here at all (A secret: I thought about not returning to school after Kenya- crazy, right?).

I hear a common lament amongst Tufts students, and it’s that they wish they had had the “traditional” college experience. I had what would be considered a “traditional” college experience for a year and a half, and I’ve come to the conclusion that there really isn’t a traditional experience… or if there is, it’s highly highly overrated.

I know the complaints about Tufts: no school spirit with regards to sports, small school, no big parties, etc etc etc. But, I don’t think I’ve ever heard complaints about the diversity of people, about the academics, about the opportunities.

At the University of Iowa, I had the big ten sports. I had the excitement of watching my team win (FYI great season this year!!!), of tailgating, of wearing my school colors. I experienced the parties, of spending Friday and Saturday nights hearing people shout in excitement outside. But for me, I was missing a lot of the elements of the “traditional college experience” that I wanted the most.

Like: An amazing student body. At Tufts, I’ve made friends who rival my friends at home (which I never thought would be possible!). I meet amazing, diverse individuals and it’s almost impossible to not be able to find someone else interested in the same things as me. I converse with curious individuals who help me think about things in different ways, encourage me to probe an issue further, draw out ideas I’ve never thought of before.

Like: Opportunities, opportunities, opportunities, everywhere. Whether it be attending a super cool lecture at Tufts or at Harvard and MIT, meeting amazing people associated with Tufts faculty, or just seeing how passionate students are about the clubs they run here.

… the list could go on forever. Point being, I’ve had what’s considered the “traditional” college experience and then I’ve had the Tufts experience- and I much prefer Tufts. On a purely superficial level the big sports university seems like a lot of fun, but the saying, “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” rings true here. I might have worn Iowa t-shirts at games and cheered with the rest of the crowd, but that was only at games. However, I would proudly wear a Tufts shirt anytime and anywhere

So to finish my Thanksgiving list, I am thankful for Jumbo, friends, getting to go to Mumbai, and Tufts! <3 Have an amazing Thanksgiving, everyone!

Active Transfers

I’ve been somewhat concerned lately about how my perspective might affect the decisions of potential transfers; after all, I am just one person. What I can say with confidence about transfers in general, however, is that almost every single transfer I know is deeply involved in both Tufts and community outside of it.

I was contacted today by a reporter from the Daily wanting to ask me about the extracurricular activities of transfer students. Rumors have been floating around that the article is meant to be about transfers not being active at Tufts, though I’ve been unable to find any more information about that.

Frankly, I disagree and was vaguely offended by the notion that transfers are inactive & don’t do anything on campus. The process of transferring is a difficult one, one that takes a lot of thought and consideration; I know very few transfers who would transfer to a school where they (likely) pay more tuition just to sit around in their rooms. The character of a transfer has to be motivated one, someone who is always looking to improve themselves and get as much as they can out of their opportunities. If you’re lazy, you don’t go through the trouble of doing applications again, finding professors to write recommendations, etc.

I think this is an important post to make, as there are people who are doing so much more than I am. For example, I know transfers who:

• Are part of the Timmy Foundation, going to Guatemala!
• Do work with BUILD; one friend is going to Guatemala this winter break
• Started an Amnesty International chapter here
• Working with the Daily
• Give tours with the admissions office
• Have acted in plays
• Are taking on internships outside of Tufts
• And much, much, much more!

The point being- I’m just one person and one voice from a really diverse group of transfer students. Everyone has a different story. One friend took a gap year and spent six months in France, another transferred twice, and yet another one took a year off to work for One Laptop Per Child. I can’t claim to speak for all transfers through this blog, but I think the below is accurate:

Transfer students are just as, if not more, active on campus than any Tufts student who entered the university as a freshman! Don’t underestimate transfers, they’ll surprise you

Trials & Tribulations of Transfers

I’ve recently discovered the most difficult thing about being  a transfer student- being able to graduate on time.

Before I got to Tufts, my friends simply would not stop asking me, “Are you going to graduate on time?” I always waved it aside carelessly. After all, by the end of my sophomore year I had finished one of my majors at Iowa- how hard could it be at Tufts?

Answer: Much harder than I expected!

One big reason for this? I double majored in international studies and anthropology at Iowa. Here, I was intending to double major in international relations and anthropology. Let me just say this- it’s incredibly important here to understand that there’s a pretty big difference between majoring in international studies and international relations. They’re almost two completely different majors in a lot of ways. But still…

I’ve spent two and a half years expecting that I would graduate with two majors and on time. Tuesday night, as I looked through my requirements for my anthropology and international relations majors, I discovered to my dismay that while I only have two more anthro classes to take after Spring semester to complete my major, I have a whopping ten classes to take in order to complete the IR major. That would equal out to about six classes per semester my senior year.

Imagine my growing dismay as I also realized I still have some basic distribution requirements to get through! Not many, but that’s not exactly the type of thing you can just ignore. If I compromise and take only major required classes, take classes during the summer and winter, then I have a shot at graduating on time with both my majors. With my heart set on Mumbai this winter and Nairobi in the summer, this just wasn’t a compromise I could make.

In the end, I decided to drop the IR major and graduate with an anthropology major. It was hard to accept, but in a lot of ways I’m relieved; I get to take more classes I love without the stress of being stuck in a strict curriculum. In addition, I’ll actually be able to enjoy my senior year next year and let senioritis kick in if I so desire…

This is just something that was beyond my control, especially as a junior transfer; some AP credits don’t transfer over, at least one of my classes has been rejected for credit, etc. I find myself constantly envying those who transferred in as sophomores or who are freshmen; they have so much time to plan and figure things out, while I just basically never had a chance at getting these two majors together.

But yeah, important transfer lesson? If you’re transferring in as a sophomore and want to double major, plan ahead. Before you even register for classes during your week of orientation, look through the major requirements, figure out which classes you should get credit for, and work out how many major-related classes you need to take each semester. And if you’re transferring in as a junior and are absolutely set on double majoring, figure out how to do that before you even decide on a school. If this is a make or break decision and you want to graduate on time, then it’s important that you figure this all out in May before you commit to a school!

As for me, this decision was difficult to accept but I would have come to Tufts regardless of whether or not I knew beforehand that I wouldn’t be able to graduate with two majors. But still, this goes into the book of “Things I Wish I’d Known While I Was Transferring”!

Mumbai

Not to brag (ok, maybe a little!) but I will be here for three glorious weeks in December and January!

(Thanks for the image, Wikipedia!)

I will be in Mumbai doing research in the Dharavi slums on the slum-clearing project there; partly because my passion lies in urban poverty and the slums, partly because my beloved Kibera is currently going through a slum-clearing project also, and partly because it’ll serve as the research paper I need to write for EPIIC.

On the fun side, there are several students in EPIIC who will be in India, along with a good number who are specifically going to be in Mumbai. It’s been too long since I’ve been in a foreign country with friends (oh, five months and a half months?) and I’m looking forward to exploring the city with friends! My list of places to visit while I’m in Mumbai definitely include the Elephant Caves and Haji Ali Dargah but any further suggestions are greatly appreciated!

This winter will be interesting; getting my wisdom teeth taken out, applying for internships for the summer, meeting my brother’s girlfriend (who will be visiting from Australia!), and three weeks in India in the slums! December can’t come soon enough, though

H1N1 Flu & You!

So I finally jumped on the bandwagon and got swine flu! I was studying late Tuesday night and felt woozy on my feet, but thought it was just because I was tired. Come Wednesday morning, I could barely sit up, nevermind stand.

Thinking that I was just being a sissy about a little cold, I brushed it off until my big brother yelled at me to go to health services. I finally wobbled on over there only to find that I actually had a 102.5 fever and what my doctor thinks is swine flu- they aren’t even running tests for it anymore since so many people have it!

They take very good care of you over at health services, by the way. Despite being half delirious from my fever, I thoroughly enjoyed the company of the nurse and doctor who took care of me. After some medicine and guzzling down gatorade, my temperature went down and they sent me home with a big box of food & a gallon of water. I’m in isolation until I’m better (I almost cried when they told me this, as a bunch of my friends from my study abroad program are coming this weekend for a reunion!) but other than that, swine flu isn’t so bad.

In fact, I’ve been sleeping more in the past two days than I have all week. Plus, everyday I get a big box of food delivered to me (they use the equivalent of two meal swipes for this, but still….). I eat a lot and regularly, unlike my usual life. In fact, I’ve been telling people that my life is currently 75% sleeping and 25% eating. Not bad at all. In addition, all of my friends have been incredibly sweet- I’ve been regularly getting text messages from friends asking me if I need anything.

Nothing like swine flu to make you feel incredibly loved!

Vagina Monologues

At my last school, I produced lectures. I was a member of the University Lecture Committee, a group of seven undergrads that were selected to handle a budget, get in touch with agencies, and bring speakers to the university. We did everything, from booking flights and hotel rooms to meeting with press. Producing a lecture is seriously a great experience; it’s stressful but you get to interact with so many different people and learn a lot. (Cool sidenote: The lecture I produced brought Ishmael Beah to my school and we’re still regularly in touch! I hang out with him when I go home.) It’s something that I miss a lot now that I’m here at Tufts.

So, when my friend Angel asked me to be her producer for The Vagina Monologues, I agreed without a second thought. I’ve had experience producing lectures and the idea of getting to say that I’ve produced a play is an exciting one!

Last Sunday, Angel (the director for Vagina Monologues) and I spent seven hours in a room interviewing girls and watching them audition. This has been my favorite part about producing the play thus far- I have deep respect for anyone who puts themselves out there to perform a play as intimate as Vagina Monologues can be. We asked questions, laughed a lot, and were just completely blown away by the girls who showed up to audition.

& so, a grueling nine hours later, we finally had our cast picked out. I’m so excited to work with these girls- they’re all such incredibly passionate, enthusiastic, and interesting individuals, and I can’t wait to get to know them. Angel and I are planning fun bonding activities in the next few months to come.

Oh, and…  another cool thing? I’ll be performing a monologue! I’ve done a lot of public speaking (I’ve even spoken in front of over a thousand people), but this is something different. I’m simultaneously excited and nervous to see how things turn out.

Keep your calendars marked! February 13, 2010