From the Inside Looking Out
Having just finished my first year at Tufts University, it seems that the college application process in all of its anxiety-ridden glory occurred ages ago. I am not sure what was the worst, the endless testing, the “who are you” essays, the visits, the questions from friends and family … thankfully it has all become a blur. The reality, though, is that merely twelve months have passed.
I Remember Touring Tufts University
As a first-year college student, there is nothing to prepare you for the feelings that flood you when you’re walking around campus and you see something you’ve long since forgotten existed … those admissions tours walking around. I squirm. I feel embarrassed, to start, as I watch these hordes of high school students swarm their tour guide, glancing quizzically at us as we pass by en route to class. It feels strange. Emotions of all sorts pierce you … the tinge of discomfiture, the jab of insider’s guilt. Remembrance of what it feels like to be a high schooler and pining to be in those college kids’ places. We feel your wistful gaze, and it sears through us! And we shared that gaze just a few months back. We, too, frightfully clutched those Kiplinger guidebooks and campus maps, as you’re doing now, and we stood beside our mothers and fathers as they strategically mortified us by raising their hands to ask the tour guide: “I heard you offer matzo over Passover in the dining halls. Is that kosher?” or “OK. And what will your dining hall do for my daughter if she has a gluten allergy?”
Ask us Why
Now, remember, the best thing you can do is talk to us. We aren’t there to intimidate you or mislead you …We are there to help you answer: “Why Tufts?”
Erica Rigby, Tufts 2015
