Mumbo Jumbo: Student Outreach

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

2008-04-01T23:00:00.004-05:00

I purchased my cap and gown at the Tufts bookstore today! I also received embossed graduation announcements and a brown and blue "08" tassel.

So, now, the pressure's fully on: I better graduate!

It's a pretty hectic time at Undergraduate Admissions right now, what with high school students beginning the college search process and admitted students still deciding among colleges.

But there's an even bigger change: Bendetson Hall has undergone a major renovation. For the past month, prospective students and their families have gone to Dowling Hall, the Student Services building, for information sessions and tours. As of this week, we are once again greeting visitors at Bendetson Hall!

Walls were knocked down and repainted and all of the old furniture was replaced. Gone are the chairs with the elephant-print fabric. In their place, swanky (and super comfortable) chairs and settees in muted tones of brown and blue have taken over the lobby. The new interior design accommodates more visitors and enables them to have discreet conversation clusters.

We hope you enjoy the new and improved Bendetson!

Hooray!

2008-03-31T23:30:00.002-05:00

A very big congratulations to the students who received their Tufts acceptance letters today! We hope you join the Class of 2012 on the Hill!

Who You Gonna Call? TUPD! (Not Ghostbusters)

2008-03-30T22:42:00.005-05:00

On Saturday night, my friends decided they wanted to go to a bar in Kenmore Square, near Fenway Park, to meet up with some acquaintainces who live in Boston. However, I live on the opposite side of campus from their off-campus apartment, and I didn't want to walk 20 minutes to their house in the 20 degree temperature at 11 pm and risk pneumonia. What to do? I called the Non-Emergency hotline of the Tufts University Police Department and requested a police escort--for the first time in my time at Tufts!

Promptly, a police officer picked up the phone and asked me where I would be heading. Within a few minutes, a snazzy brown and blue TUPD police cruiser rolled up to my abode. A few minutes after that, I arrived safe and sound at my friends' apartment.But this isn't an anecdote about the responsiveness of the TUPD or safety precautions on campus. Rather, it's just another vignette that illustrates how friendly the staff members are at Tufts University.

In the span of my 4 minute car ride with Officer John Murphy, I learned the following about him: that he has worked for Tufts for the past 10 years; that his younger brother graduated from Tufts and majored in Economics; that he is waiting to hear which musicians will perform at this April's Spring Fling; that he was getting off his work shift in 10 minutes; and that he loves his job.

In turn, he had learned my class year, my majors, my career plans, my hometown, the story behind my freshman year knee dislocations, and where I was heading to in Boston that night! By the time we rolled up at my destination, he shook my hand and said that it was a pleasure to meet me after all my years at Tufts.

I'd said it before, and I'll say it again: the people at Tufts--be they students, professors, faculty members, or support staff--are genuinely friendly, and that has made my college experience all the better. Strangers will open doors for you or volunteer to help you out. In the span of 4 minutes, you can strike up a conversation with someone you've never met.So, I'd like to dedicate this post to all those unsung heroes at Tufts. I'd like to thank Lina, the Dining Services lady who swipes students' ID cards in Carmichael Hall and who shouts "Sweetie!" and "Bella!" to the freshman girls whenever they enter the building.

I'd also like to thank Kate Nash, Program Director of Advising and Scholarships, and James Ryan, Coordinator for Programs and Special Projects, the amazing duo that coordinates Freshman Orientation each year.

And, if you're ever at Bendetson Hall, be sure to thank Ellen Mounteer, the dedicated Campus Visit Coordinator who greets visitors to the reception area! Admissions wouldn't be the same without her.

Medford and Its Historical Significance

2008-03-27T12:27:00.006-05:00

Now, in my fourth year of work at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, I feel as though I’m able to recite arcane Tufts knowledge in my sleep—while walking backward, like a diligent tour guide! However, as much as I enjoy reciting the saga of Jumbo the mascot for the umpteenth time, I also love learning new facts about the Tufts campus and the surrounding areas.On two occasions, I’ve visited the Isaac Royall House, located 5 minutes from the Tufts campus at 15 George Street in Medford. Royall, a rum distiller, slaveholder, and trader of Antiguan slaves, owned over 500 acres. George Washington and his generals stayed in the main house during the early months of the Revolutionary War. Today, visitors to the grounds can peruse a public museum, the Royalls’ home, and the site of the oldest standing slave quarters in New England. Indeed, in February of 1782, a slave named Belinda, who had toiled at the estate for 50 years, spoke before the legislature of Massachusetts to courageously petition her right to a fraction of the late Isaac Royall's inheritance.Born in Medford, Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880) was an outspoken novelist, journalist, abolitionist, and advocate for the rights of women and Native Americans. However, she is best remembered for her 1844 poem entitled, “A Boy’s Thanksgiving Day.” We now know it as the Thanksgiving song, “Over the River and Through the Woods.” The title refers to the Mystic River. Grandfather’s house is still located at 114 South Street, just a few blocks from the Tufts campus, in Medford. In 1976, Tufts purchased and restored the site.Did you know that “Jingle Bells” was also composed in Medford? James Lord Pierpont (1822-1893) composed the seasonal tune in 1857. At the time, men used “cutters”—also known as “one horse open sleighs”—to race the mile-long route between Medford and Malden Squares.If you’re walking along College Avenue, you’ll see the massive Cousens Gymnasium complex. In the mid-nineteenth century, this land was the site of the George L. Stearns Estate—and a stop on the Underground Railroad. In the 1860’s, Stearns, a local merchant, operated a safe house, assisting enslaved individuals to escape from the South to the North. Stearns was also one of the “Secret Six” who lent his friend, John Brown, financial support for his 1859 anti-slavery raid on Harper’s Ferry, VA.One of my majors is American Studies, so it fascinates me that Medford has been home to slaveholders, enslaved African Americans, male and female abolitionists, and fugitives on the Underground Railroad. As a history buff, I love that the greater Boston area is rife with sites of historical significance. Visiting places like Lexington, where the colonists' revolt against England began, and the textile mills at Lowell has helped me attain a better grasp of social struggles in the United States.

Boston may be remembered for its Tea Party, but only Medford inspired Thanksgiving and Christmas songs that are beloved to this very day!

College Tour Etiquette

2008-03-25T15:05:00.008-05:00

This week, prospective students and their families have descended upon the Tufts campus in droves. If you're a sophomore or junior, you may be commencing your college tour process. Pack comfortable shoes and sunglasses: you're going to need them!I've been a tour guide at Tufts for the past 4 years (and have averaged 8 tours per week over the past 2 summers)! However, way back when, I was the younger sibling who tagged along with my sister and parents on a tour of every college in the United States.

I completely commiserate with individuals who are attempting to navigate the murky waters of this process. After a while, the statistics start to swim in your head and the college campuses morph into the same vague image of a quad with some brick buildings around it.

So here's my take on college tours:1) Think of this as a movie theatre. Turn off your cell phones, put away your snacks, and please keep your comments to a minimum or just whisper them discreetly, at the very least. Over the years, I've had people conduct business meetings via cell phone, eat sub sandwiches, and make loud comments while I try to walk backward and scream fun facts about the School of Engineering. One of my fellow tour guides even encountered prospective students making out in the middle of her tour! Please be considerate of the other people on your tour. Most tours are an hour in length, so please refrain from disruptive activities.

2) Duck out quietly. Look, sometimes you're going to arrive at a college campus and instantly know that it's not the place for you. Good. Trust your gut reactions. However, sometimes you'll be halfway through a tour when you realize that you're just not gelling with the school. Just traipse off from the tour group without causing a scene. My family and I did this at a school that didn't mesh well with my sister. No harm, no foul.

If, however, you know in advance that you'll need to cut your tour short--you have to drive to another school, for example, or you need to meet with an athletic coach on campus--please inform your tour guide before the tour begins. That way, he or she won't take it as a personal slight.
3) Pay attention. Sometimes, prospective students base their opinion of a school entirely on whether or not they like their tour guide. Remember, this tour guide is ONE student out of the X people who attend that school and is in no way representative of the entire student body. So, while your tour guide is talking, take a few moments to find hidden "clues" about college life. Look at the other students walking around the campus. Do they look happy? Would you fit in with them? Look at the posters and signs. Is the campus vibrant and active? Look for blue lights and electronic call boxes. Is the campus safe? Sometimes, nonverbal signs are as telling as the script your tour guide is projecting to the crowd.

4) Record the memorable aspects of your visit. Whether that means taking photos, jotting down notes, or creating a folder filled with information packets from the colleges you visited, organize your personal recollections. Frequently, visitors to Tufts also take tours of other schools in Boston and the entire Northeast in the same vacation. If you're organized, when you return home, you'll be able to sift through the information and objectively compare and contrast your college choices.

5) Thank your tour guide! Chances are, he or she is an unpaid or minimum wage worker who genuinely loves his or her college. If you loved the tour, shake his or her hand; it'll brighten his or her day! Inquire about tour guide evaluations back at the admissions office.

6) Follow up. If you are genuinely interested in the school, ask for the tour guide's email or mail a thank you card to him or her care of the admissions office. Feel free to call the general admissions telephone number for detailed or personal inquiries.

7) HAVE FUN! When you tour colleges, you're basically window-shopping for the insitution of higher learing that you will attend for four years. It can be just as helpful to rule out schools you don't like as it is to find schools you do. In the process, you'll learn more about what makes you tick and what type of environment will best help you flourish, academically, socially, and personally.

Unleash Your Inner Pollock

2008-03-21T00:46:00.000-05:00

If you've ever been on a Tufts campus tour, you've probably seen the cannon outside of Goddard Chapel. The city of Medford donated this replica of a cannon from the U.S.S. Constitution to Tufts. Many people allege that the cannon is aimed in the direction of at a school or two in Cambridge--cough, cough--but it's actually pointed at nothing in particular!

Also, you may be familiar with the grand student tradition of painting the cannon at night and guarding it until the sun rises. Since 1977, generations of Jumbos have decorated the statue with messages of protest, event promotion, birthday wishes, and marriage proposals. I've painted it on two occasions, including the August 2007 Freshman Orientation, as seen above.

However, if you happen to be miles away from Medford, minus 5 cans of spray paint, and would like to virtually join in on the action, you can visit this amazing website...

http://paintthecannon.com/

...and procrastinate by decorating a virtual cannon. Warning: this is highly addictive.

Baby Jumbos

2008-03-20T21:32:00.001-05:00

My friend Chloe (who is also a tour guide) text messaged me today from Florida. She's in Sarasota for Spring Break and, while visiting the Ringling Circus Museum, she came across an exhibit on Jumbo the elephant!

Sometimes I sit in the Ginn Library at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and pretend to write my American Studies paper while actually Googling images of "baby elephant" instead.

Walden Pond and the College Search Process

2008-03-18T00:15:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, I visited Walden Pond for the second time. In my freshman year at Tufts, I took Environmental Geology, so my classmates and I scaled the rock formations and discussed the impact of industrialization and encroachment on Henry David Thoreau’s former home.

Currently, I am enrolled in Boston Radicals, an English class devoted to the long tradition of activist writing in the New England area. We read Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” and “Walden Pond” and made a Sunday morning trek to Walden.A winter storm had blanketed the pond with snow, and my friends and I were able to walk out across the frozen waters and enjoy the tranquil scene. As rough as it was for me to wake up at 9:30 on a weekend morning, I’m glad I took the time to revisit a historic site that has become synonymous with contemplation and solace.

While at Walden, Thoreau wrote, “Our life is frittered away by detail. . . . Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!” Whether you’re a senior in high school and waiting to hear back from the institutions to which you applied, or a sophomore or junior embarking on the torturous college search process, it’s critical to your sanity that you take a step back and breathe. Picking your future college is stressful, and, unfortunately, the influence of parents, teachers, guidance counselors, coaches, and so-called college “guidebooks” can sometimes further compound students’ anxieties.At the end of the day, trust your own intuition and try not to base your self-worth on a single application or decision. You are so much more than a SAT number or AP score. As Thoreau noted, “Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate.” Admissions officers pass judgment on words and numbers in manila folders—not on individuals. If you have something unique to offer the world, it will become apparent in some form no matter which institution’s name is stamped on your college diploma.As you navigate the murky waters of your junior and senior years, stay connected to friends and family members. Find healthy outlets for your academic stress. (I’m not advocating that everyone should build a one-room shed in the middle of the forest like Thoreau, but, hey, whatever floats your boat!)

Admissions Counselor Jon Godsey advocates “yoga, meditation, and scented candles” to survive the competitive application process. In his information sessions, Assistant Director of Admissions Davin Bergquist encourages high school students, “If all else fails, take deep, cleansing breaths!” I think Thoreau would agree.

Erin Go Bragh!

2008-03-17T00:24:00.001-05:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

In 1737, colonial Boston was home to the first St. Patrick's Day parade in what is now the United States.

Boston is infamous for its historic Irish American population. As an individual with paternal ancestors from Ireland, I'll most certainly be adorned in green today.

The Burren is a renowned Irish pub and restaurant in Davis Square. Its St. Paddy's celebration replete with traditional Irish bands, foods, and drink begins at 8 am. So I'm off to bed now to ready myself for the day...

Best of luck to you this holiday and with the entirety of your college search process!

Codebreaker

2008-03-16T13:51:00.004-05:00

Tufts has several quirky fixtures on the Medford/Somerville campus. Visitors to the Tisch library lobby often look up at the ceiling and see this:Although this installation looks like something out of "The DaVinci Code," it's actually a sculpture printed with binary code. Sarah Hollis Perry and Rachel Perry Welty, two School of the Museum of Fine Arts students, designed it in 1997. The binary code spells out Philip Larkin's poem, "New Eyes Each Year."

Spring Break!

2008-03-15T16:18:00.004-05:00

Technically, Tufts' Spring Break began today, although students have been departing campus since Wednesday. My friends have jetted off to far-flung locales: Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, Florida, Montreal, Colorado, San Diego, and Morocco, to name a few destinations.

Members of the class of 2008 will graduate from Tufts in exactly 2 months and 3 days--so Spring Break really is a last hurrah before the "real world" sets in for us seniors!

Jocelyn, my housemate, recently joined the crew team as a coxswain, so she's sticking around Tufts for the majority of break to attend practices. Today, she went to the Museum of Fine Arts with her mom.

As for me, I'm also sticking around the not-so-tropical Medford, MA to finish writing my Senior Honors Thesis. It's currently a 102 page beast and growing. Several other seniors are suffering the same Spring Break fate, but at least we're plodding through it together!

My friend Erica, who's writing an English thesis on books for teenage girls (like "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"), is joining me in my caffeination and procrastination. Hopefully, we'll be able to leave the library on Monday and celebrate St. Patrick's Day in proper Bostonian style!

Tufts Thai Club Dinner

2008-03-13T19:02:00.006-05:00

Tonight, my friend Emily and I went to a cooking class sponsored by the Tufts Thai Club. In the lounge and kitchen of Lewis Hall, one of the downhill dorms, we sliced, diced, and fried a decidedly delicious dinner.

First, we made fried chicken with basil......and then tom yum koong...
...followed by a Thai omelet with pork......and washed it all down with home-brewed Thai ice tea, one of my all-time favorite things!

"Behind the Scenes, Admissions Offices Conquer Mounds of Mail"

2008-03-11T15:12:00.004-05:00

The Chronicle of Higher Education recently published an enlightening article about all the paper, staples, and postage stamps behind the college admissions process.

You can read it here:
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/i20/20a02001.htm?pg=dji

Additionally, for the benefit of individuals without Chronicle subscriptions, accounts, or web passes, this is the article's text:

Behind the Scenes, Admissions Offices Conquer Mounds of Mail

By ELIZABETH F. FARRELL

If coming back to work after winter break seems daunting, consider the plight of college-admissions officials. While most high-school students are breathing a sigh of relief after finally submitting their applications, those on the receiving end are rolling up their sleeves. January is crunch time for many admissions offices, and it's common for admissions deans to spend long hours at the office while the rest of their campuses are eerily quiet.

Admissions officers emphasize how many hours they spend reviewing the qualifications of each earnest applicant, even as they anticipate record-breaking application numbers this year. What isn't as well known, however, is how much time it takes to get those applications ready to read.

Most students apply online, but the process is far from automated. Below is a guide to admissions officers' intricate yet often ignored efforts to organize the truckloads of paperwork that pour in this time of year. Handled with care? Indeed.

1. The Mail Arrives

And it's not e-mail. Think 20 bins a day of snail mail. That's what Stanford University reports receiving in the final weeks before its January 1 application deadline. Though 95 percent of applications are submitted electronically, most of the teacher recommendations, high-school transcripts, and activities résumés are mailed separately. Each applicant generates up to a dozen pieces of mail, and 24,000 applicants last year meant 250,000 pieces of mail to process. This year is just as hectic, according to Richard H. Shaw, dean of undergraduate admission and financial aid.

"A high percentage of our students apply at deadline," says Mr. Shaw. "So by January 2 we are buried alive in paper, and it stays that way until the end of the month."

2. Opening the Piles

It's not difficult to open an envelope, but it takes time to open thousands of them. That is why Kristin R. Tichenor, vice president for enrollment management at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, says, "Thank God for student labor." At her office, an army of student workers is charged with the sole duty of opening the mail and stamping each piece with the date.

Everyone chips in at Loyola Marymount, according to Matthew X. Fissinger, director of admissions. Mr. Fissinger requires all members of his staff to pick up daily letter-opening shifts during the busy times, and his receptionist takes home piles of mail at night to open in front of the television. Her husband helps out, too. Other institutions, including Villanova University and Connecticut College, hire temporary staff to keep up with the avalanche of envelopes.

"It's like getting a 25-pound bag of sugar and trying to put it in a five-pound container," says Michael Gaynor, director of admission at Villanova. "We need all the help we can get."

Old-fashioned letter openers can expedite this monotonous task, but paper cuts are unavoidable.

3. Organizing the Mail

After the piles of mail have morphed into piles of paper, they must be matched up with the online applications submitted by students. Thus begins a colossal process of data entry and document scanning. Some colleges, including Stanford and the University of Southern California, scan all related documents — recommendation letters, transcripts, etc. — and then read everything electronically. Others, such as Worcester Polytechnic and Earlham College, print everything and review paper files for each applicant.

As with envelope opening, these tasks require hundreds of hours of labor, and the work is boring but important. Hundreds of students may share the last names Abrams, Blake, and Campbell, and admissions staff must ensure that none of their materials get placed in the wrong file.

"Things do get misfiled sometimes," says Martha C. Merrill, dean of admission and financial aid at Connecticut College. "But it's remarkable that so few errors happen given the volume of applications we're processing."

4. Making the List, Checking It Twice

Now that everything is filed in one place, admissions officers must figure out how to standardize all that information. Grade-point averages can be particularly tricky. High schools have vastly different numerical scales for calculating grades, and some courses with the same names are far more challenging at one school than another.

Then comes the (other) hard part — reading those applications and deciding whom to admit and reject.

DID YOU KNOW?

The admissions office at the University of Iowa has its own mailroom, with a staff of six.

To get a jump on data processing before the afternoon mail delivery, admissions staffers at Loyola Marymount University, in Los Angeles, often drive down to the campus mailroom and load bins of mail into their cars to bring back to the admissions office.

Applicants may obsess over every word in their essays, but their high-school counselors often ignore instructions that warn them not to staple forms together. Removing staples is perhaps the only task that is more mind-numbing than opening mail.

Lehigh University's admissions office can get downright musical during crunch time. J. Leon Washington, dean of admissions and financial aid, sometimes leads his staff in singalongs of Broadway-show tunes and top R&B hits to cut the boredom of tearing through thousands of envelopes.

During the early January rush at Villanova University, mailroom staff members come in through the side door of the admissions office so those workers already buried in unopened envelopes will not feel discouraged when they see the fresh piles being delivered.

At the end of the process, Connecticut College's admissions director brings in a masseuse to give chair massages to weary staff members.

Every applicant wants to stand out from the pack, and many will send compact discs of their musical performances, portfolios of their artwork, or even baked goods to distinguish themselves. Colleges like Earlham use separate bins to catalog those items.

Worcester Polytechnic has one data-entry person who specializes in processing international applications. Why? Because not everyone is familiar with common names in Vietnam and Turkey, which account for many of the institute's foreign applicants. Transposing first and last names is a common mistake. Minor data-entry mix-ups could lead to major confusion later on.

TECHNOLOGY PROS AND CONS

Pros:

The University of California application system is one of the few in the country that is almost paperless. More than 99 percent of the 95,000 freshman applicants this year applied online, and they self-report their grades and test scores. By requesting official statements of that information only from accepted students, the UC system drastically reduces the amount of paperwork it has to process.

Fewer envelopes in the future may make this process less time-consuming.

When all materials are organized electronically, multiple admissions staffers can get access to them simultaneously. That also saves space by eliminating the need for roomfuls of file cabinets.

Those whose offices are fully online think this point is where all the electronic information helps — files are all readily available and searchable. When an admissions officer wants to pull up an essay quickly for review, or gets a call from a student wondering if her teacher's recommendation arrived, he or she no longer has to manually sift through rows of files to find it.

Cons:

For the foreseeable future, the bins of mail are here to stay at most institutions. Many are waiting for the day when a critical mass of high schools send transcripts and recommendations electronically. No one expects that to happen anytime soon.

In the meantime, there is no machine that can open and empty all the different-sized envelopes that admissions offices receive. The task may be simple, but it requires human effort.

Many applicants now get a pin number that allows them to log in and ensure the college received their admissions materials. Woe to the admissions office that doesn't scurry to update that data, as it can expect a flood of frantic calls.

Eye strain, carpal-tunnel syndrome, and backaches are rampant from all that computer use.

http://chronicle.com
Section: Students
Volume 54, Issue 20, Page A20

A Tale Of Two Elephants

2008-03-10T17:45:00.007-05:00

Jumbo the elephant, P.T. Barnum's celebrated circus pachyderm, is commemorated in statuesque form both in St. Thomas, Ontario (where, in 1885, he met his untimely demise by train)......and the Tufts Campus in Medford, MA (where, in 1975, he met his second untimely demise, this time by fire).Today, his ashes live on in a 14 ounce Peter Pan Crunchy Peanut Butter jar on the desk of Tufts' Athletic Director. Third time's the charm, Jumbo!

You can read more about our mascot's epic life here:
http://www.tufts.edu/alumni/magazine/spring2002/jumbo.html

There Will Be Funnel Cake

2008-03-09T14:13:00.008-05:00

Our Spring Break begins this weekend, but before Tufts students jet off to tropical locales, the university's Programming Board has implemented a final hurrah: the first-ever Skating Rink and Winter Carnival at Tufts!

A 40' x 60' ice skating rink was erected atop the Fletcher Tennis Courts. For the past 4 days, students were able to rent skates for an hour at a time.

Today, the 4-hour carnival will feature indoor laser tag, an inflatable slide, a photo booth, ice sculptures, and a DJ. Funnel cake, snow cones, caramel apples, jumbo pretzels, popcorn, and hot chocolate are among the delicious and unhealthy treats that will be available. With the exception of ice skating, the entire event is free!

Programming Board is an umbrella organization that is responsible for the majority of the social programming at Tufts. You can read more about it here:

http://ase.tufts.edu/pboard

Rock And Roll Is Here To Stay

2008-03-05T19:26:00.011-05:00

From an early age, my parents instilled in me a love of music from the 60's and 70's (aka when they attended high school and college). Although I have no recollection of it, apparently the first concert I ever attended was a Paul Simon performance. It occurred in the 1980's, a few years after his Central Park reunion concert with Art Garfunkel.

Bob Dylan's experimental "Nashville Skyline" is one of my mom's all-time favorite albums. Columbia Records released it the year she graduated from high school, and it's been a favorite of mine for years as well. At home, the original album sleeve is framed on our wall alongside Andy Warhol's zipper artwork on The Rolling Stones' "Sticky Fingers."

Ironically, I wound up attending Tufts University, where both Dylan and Simon & Garfunkel performed in the 1960's.

On March 7, 1964, Bob Dylan peformed at Cousens Gym at Tufts. A handbill from the event is pictured below. I've actually seen the same poster on display at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH. You'll note that tickets cost $2.50 to $3.00!Pictured below are the front and back covers of a Simon and Garfunkel album. The duo performed at Tufts in 1967, and their live recording is now considered a rarity. Bootlegged songs from the recording are widely available online.

The Importance of "fit"ness

2008-03-04T15:40:00.009-05:00

It's an overcast yet unseasonably warm day in Medford, MA, so I figured I'd punch up the blog with a photo of Richard Simmons radiating physical fitness and orange quads:Today's entry is dedicated to finding the right "fit" in an institution of higher learning. Hence the Richard Simmons visual pun. I know, it's lame and cheesy, just like "Disco Sweat."

On Saturday, my friends held a party themed "Because there are only 78 days until graduation." Many of my fellow seniors are waiting to hear back from medical schools, law schools, graduate programs, and job opportunities. It's a bittersweet time: as much as we're all looking forward to whatever the future has in store for us, we know we'll miss Tufts, the collegiate lifestyle, and all the friends we've accumulated during our four years on the hill.

Embarking on the job search process, I find myself ruminating on what many of the Tufts admissions officers stress in their information sessions: "FIT MATTERS." It's important for you to select the college or university where you can excel, just as it's imperative that graduating seniors make wise professional choices. A prestigious job title or shiny college bumper sticker alone won't guarantee you happiness. You have to actively look for the environment where you can thrive and be comfortable. Ultimately, that's the occupation or college campus where you will shine brightest.No Ouija Board, Magic 8 Ball, algorithm, or college guidebook will be able to definitively tell you whether or not a respective college or university is the perfect personal fit. So, in addition to the myriad stats you've been absorbing while looking at schools--median SAT range, applicant acceptance ratio, average classroom size, number of computers in the library, etc.--be sure to place equal importance on that "quality of life" quotient. It's going to vary from person to person and from institution to institution, but this barometer of future contentment is the "gut feeling" that tells you whether or not you'd be happy somewhere.

Sure, the college you're touring may have x number of Rhodes scholars and y square feet of linoleum per freshman double. But do you feel comfortable walking around campus? Do you think you could make friends there? Are there enough cultural and extracurricular events and activities to sustain your interest? Is the surrounding environment stimulating? Would you be comfortable with the dominant forms of social life? Is this the type of place that you'd be happy to call home for four years?I can't claim that Tufts University is a panacea for every high school senior. It's been a great fit for me personally, but no single institution in the world is perfect for everyone. Every college or university has its own unique attributes, and the college search process is all about sorting out the puzzle pieces and discovering which one fits you best.

Tufts Alumna Meredith Vieira to Speak at Commencement

2008-02-26T14:07:00.002-05:00

'Today Show' host Vieira to deliver Commencement address

It's A Small World After All

2008-02-18T12:48:00.003-05:00

My Op-Ed, published in The Tufts Daily today:
Remembering Japanese internment will help stop future prejudice

Back in August, I began writing an American Studies Senior Honors Thesis on the importance of multicultural children's literature. Since then, it's shifted focus to the representation of the Japanese American internment experience in illustrated children's books--a publishing trend that has emerged only within the past 20 years.

So, two weeks ago, in the midst of drafting 100 pages, I'm elbow-deep in highlighters and history books when I pick up the Tufts Daily and notice an ad for an upcoming event. Amy Lee-Tai, who graduated with a degree in Psychology from Tufts in 1989, is coming to campus to speak in honor of the National Day of Remembrance of Japanese American Internment. Her mother and grandparents were interned at the Topaz War Relocation Center in Utah. Two years ago, she wrote a fictional multilingual children's book, "A Place Where Sunflowers Grow," based on their experience.I contacted Linell Yugawa, the Director of the Asian American Center at Tufts, and she forwarded me Ms. Lee-Tai's contact information. We've since corresponded, and, not only will I attend her presentation and honorary dinner tomorrow, but I'll definitely include her work in my thesis!

When I began my thesis, I had no idea that my research topic correlated with the creative output of a recent Tufts grad. And that's another reason why I love this school: you're always discovering that you share obscure academic and personal interests with others. Random alumni connections and networking can aid you in ways you never thought possible.

Student Profile: Kristen Dorsey

2008-02-14T14:48:00.008-05:00

In their information sessions, Tufts admissions officers drive home the point that students here utilize their knowledge and interests to make a difference in the world. It sounds abstract and somewhat cliched, but, honestly, it's the truth. Take, for example, Kristen Dorsey, a fellow American Studies major. Originally from CA, she is currently completing the 5 year dual-degree program with Tufts and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. She's incredibly talented--you can check out her work at neriadesigns.com or purchase pieces at boutiques in Boston and CA--and The Tufts Daily published a profile on her today!

However, in addition to being an accomplished artist, Kristen is also an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation. At Tufts, she applied for and was the recipent of an American Studies Ted Shapiro Award, which enabled her to spend a summer in Oklahoma, researching her tribal heritage and creating jewelry inspired by ancient Southeastern indigenous motifs and materials.

This year, for her American Studies Thesis, she combined her interest in art and Chickasaw identity. She's writing a paper that traces the history of the Chickasaw culture, the development of the Native American Art Movement in the Southwest, and the economic concerns of the Chickasaw Nation today. Kristen has developed a business plan for burgeoning artists within the tribal nation.

She has analyzed ways in which their art could be encouraged, produced, and marketed to global consumers. In detail, she has outlined the phases of apprenticeship and initial investment that will ultimately behoove Chickasaw artists and help to solidify cultural identity.

Kristen isn't just writing a paper for a graduation requirement; she's genuinely committed to using her background as an artist to foster economic and artistic growth within the Chickasaw Nation. She fully intends to implement her business model upon graduation.

To read more about Kristen:
media.www.tuftsdaily.com/media/storage/paper856/news/2008/02/14/Weekender/Tufts.Junior.Adorns.Boston.Residents.With.Original.Jewelry-3210234.shtml

To view some of her work:
neriadesigns.com

Like Bow Wow Wow Said: I Want Candy

2008-02-13T20:46:00.009-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day! I was born and raised in Hershey, PA. My dad's office is located on West Chocolate Avenue--at the intersection with Cocoa Avenue--so I'm pretty much obsessed with all things caloric and sugary.

As you rachet up your saccharine intake today, consider the following Boston candy-related fun facts:

1) Those ubiquitous Sweethearts Conversation Hearts pictured above are manufactured in Massachussetts. They are the #1 selling non-chocolate Valentine's Day candy. "NECCO" Hearts stand for the New England Confectionery Company, located in Revere, a few miles from Tufts.

2) According to the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau, Bostonians consume more ice cream per capita than residents of any other urban area in the country. J.P. Licks in Davis Square serves up a mean scoop--my favorite flavor is coffee oreo, if you're feeling philanthropic!

3) When you drive across the Tobin Bridge from Boston to Medford, you'll notice a neon pink sign spelling out "Schrafft's" on your right. This is a famous Boston landmark and the former site of the Schrafft's candy and chocolate company.

4) Looking to satisfy your sweet tooth while visiting Tufts? I recommend the Danish Pastry House, located at the corner of Boston Avenue and Winthrop Street. Kathleen Flahive graduated from Tufts in 2004 and is the co-owner of this authentic European boutique bakery. I even ran into Davin Bergquist and Dan Grayson, two admissions officers, the last time I was there!

5) You can't visit Boston's historic North End without eating decadent cannoli. It's a heated debate: Mike's Pastry is probably the most famous purveyor of the ricotta roll, but some say Modern Pastry (located both across the street from Mike's and at a second location on Main Street in Medford) is the real deal. My parents, sister and I did the cannoli taste test challenge this past summer. We agreed on a winner...but I'll challenge you to arrive at the delicious conclusion on your own!

Just remember: After consuming all that high fructose corn syrup, be sure to brush your teeth at the end of the day. You don't want to wind up with a cavity at the Tufts School of Dental Medecine.

Sticks And Stones Can Break My Bones

2008-02-13T12:47:00.005-05:00

So the Tufts memory I shared last night at Gifford House dates way back to freshman year. I was rushed to the ER my first week at college and spent the night in a Medford hospital...but, contrary to what you might think, it had nothing to do with underage drinking or raucous behavior.

I've dislocated my knee 4 times in 5 years. So, on the very first day of class--History 22, Renaissance and Reformation, to be exact--I'm walking out of the classroom and all of a sudden my kneecap pops out and I flail to the ground. I watch my terrified professor's eyes roll to the back of his head before he quietly walks backward out of the room and runs far, far away. Luckily, Liz, one of the girls I had just met during Freshman Orientation, takes control of the situation and calls the Tufts Police, the Medford Firefighters, and TEMS--the student EMT's.

I ride in an ambulance to the nearest hospital, and Liz arranges for my friends Ashley and Rachael to come meet me there. (Mind you, I've known all these girls for about 72 hours, so I'm incredibly thankful they kept me company!) Crutches in tow, I head back to Tufts and recuperate in the sanctity of my dorm, Houston Hall.

My professors are incredibly patient when I'm on crutches. Political Science Professor Deborah Schildkraut, a fellow Tufts grad, wrote me empathetic emails about the difficulty of scaling the Hill while disabled. Strangers opened doors for me, and the Tufts Police drove me to my classes.

So I'm all well and healed...and then, a month later, walking down the Houston Hall corridor, my knee dislocates AGAIN. Repeat TEMS, Police, Firefighters, ER, hospital. This time, my friends Katherine and Jessie join me at 4 AM at the Winchester Hospital and we spend the night watching infomercials while I'm on a morphine drip.

The entire zany situation illustrated to me that, even in a foreign environment during my first few weeks of school, Tufts individuals were willing to go out of their way to help. I'm still close friends with the girls who kept hospital bedside vigil. Four years later, when I run into Tufts Police officers on the street, they still ask me, "Yo, how's your knee?"

Last summer, the orthopaedic surgeon who performed arthroscopic surgery on my knee went on one of my admissions tours. His son was considering Tufts.

Senior Dinner at Gifford House

2008-02-12T21:52:00.006-05:00

As I've often said, one of my favorite aspects of Tufts is that no student falls through the insitutional cracks--i.e., everyone has the opportunity to feel welcomed into an inclusive community.

Each spring, President Lawrence Bacow and his wife, Adele Fleet Bacow, invite seniors to dine with them at their residence, Gifford House. On eight separate nights, they open up their home to graduating students and active Tufts alumni and trustees, encouraging individuals to break bread, network, and share their fondest college memories.

I've trekked up Packard Ave past Gifford House myriad times over the past four years, but tonight was the first time I crossed the threshold. My friends and I had been looking forward to Senior Dinners ever since we were freshmen. If Tufts were Disney World, Gifford House would be the equivalent of Cinderella's Castle. It's that hallowed and imposing!

So we signed up for the same Senior Dinner night and spent several hours eating falafel and baklava, chatting up recent successful alums, and remembering the wonderful times we've had at Tufts.

On several occasions, I spoke with President Bacow. At one point, he gave me a mini tour of the considerable art collection housed onsite. The Tufts University Permanent Art Collection at Gifford House includes works by Joan Miro, John Singer Sargent, Grant Wood, Henry Moore, Helen Frankenthaler, and Auguste Rodin, to name a few artists!

The Bacows spoke at the podium before inviting several recent alums to briefly speak about their careers and what Tufts has taught them. Following this, seniors were invited to espouse their favorite memories. The anecdotes were funny, inspiring, and as varied as the speakers themselves. I even worked up the courage to share a Tufts story from freshman year!

As we headed back to the coatroom, we were handed pamphlets about how to become active Tufts alumni and the contact information for the professionals with whom we had networked. In all, it was a really enjoyable evening that lived up to the high expectations I had had for the past four years!

Most of all, I loved that I was able to share it with friends whom I have known since my first semester at Tufts!

It's Snowing!

2008-02-07T15:52:00.000-05:00

The weather outside is frightful, but our Valentine's-themed February Pub Night for seniors 21+ at the Harp in Boston is sure to be delightful!

Super Duper Blogday

2008-02-05T21:56:00.001-05:00

One of the most innovative things here at Tufts is something called the Experimental College, or ExCollege. The ExCollege basically serves as a venue for interdisciplinary, experiential classes that fall outside the realm of more traditional academics. These classes can include anything from Genetics, Ethics and Law to Rape Aggression Defense, and can count towards requirements, certain majors, and the credits required for graduation. Faculty members, community leaders and even students can apply to teach an ExCollege class, and a panel of faculty and students work together to select each semester's offerings. More information, including course listings, can be found on the ExCollege's website.

I've taken a number of ExCollege classes during my time here. From my freshmen advising seminar ("Presidential Elections" during the 2004 Kerry-Bush race) and "Israeli Foreign Policy and National Security" (taught by a former Israeli intelligence officer and based on many in-class simulations), to "Marketing for Social Change" and my current "Politics and the Blogosphere" class, the ExCollege has definitely provided me with the opportunity to infuse my education with some hands-on learning.

My current class, Politics and the Blogosphere, is taught by former Massachusetts legislator Peter Morin. Students from all backgrounds -- be it political science or computer science -- are not only learning about the blogosphere's influence on our political system, but also getting the opportunity to become bloggers ourselves. Appropriately titled Jumbo Pundits, our blog focuses on Election 2008 and has been garnering readership from not only all over the US, but also in places as far as Turkey, Columbia, Italy, France, Portugal, Sweden and Spain!

I encourage you all to not only check out the blog, but also to contribute your own two cents in the comments section. You can find it at tuftsclass.blogspot.com.

PS -- While the Republicans' mascot is the elephant, I think it's pretty safe to say that our Jumbo is bipartisan.

Reasons to Celebrate

2008-02-05T14:08:00.000-05:00

1) It's Mardi Gras! Jocelyn, my housemate, just returned from New Orleans last night. I've yet to hear her about her exploits but she better have procured some beads...2) ...so, in honor of gluttony, I'm currently eating Dunkin Donuts in the basement of the Eaton Computer Lab instead of writing my Senior Honors Thesis.3) Super Tuesday. Barack Obama and John McCain visited Boston yesterday; Hillary Clinton (whom I saw speak at Tufts when I was a freshman) spoke in Worcester and Dorchester, MA. Mitt Romney hails from Belmont, MA (also home to the aforementioned Jocelyn). For many Tufts students, it's our first or second presidential primary as eligible voters, and the campus is buzzing with heated political debate.4) Super Bowl/Tufts alum connections. It was pretty quiet in Boston after the Giants upset the Patriots, but I maintain my Jumbo pride: after all, Tufts alumni own both teams.

Daniel Kraft, A'87, is a Director of the Kraft Group, which owns the New England Patriots. His father, Robert, is the Chairman and Owner. Kraft Field, home of the Tufts soccer team, was a gift to the university from the Kraft family.

Jonathan Tisch, A'76, is Chairman and CEO of of Loews Hotels. He is on the Board and is the Treasurer of the New York Giants. In the early 1990's, a $10 million gift from the Tisch family supported the expansion and renovation of Tufts' Tisch Library. In 2006, he gave an endowed gift of $40 million dollars to fund the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts.

Steve Tisch A’71, Academy Award-winning film producer and Chairman and Executive Vice President of the Giants, has recently made a commitment of $10 million to support Tufts’ planned $30-million athletics and fitness facilities expansion and renovation. Tufts will name the Steve Tisch Sports and Fitness Center in recognition of his generous support.

Both Daniel Kraft and Jonathan Tisch currently serve on the Tufts University Board of Trustees.
5) Let's not forget about those all-important Super Bowl ads! The SoBe Life Water spot featuring Naomi Campbell and lizards dancing to "Thriller" was considered to be among the best of the bunch.

John Bello, A'68, is the Co-Founder and former CEO of the South Beach Beverage Co--best known for marketing products under the brand name SoBe. In 2004, he and his wife, Nancy, A'69, provided a $1 million naming gift to complete construction of an artificial turf field for Tufts athletics. Today, Bello Field is home to the field hockey and lacrosse teams.

Pachyderm Plans

2008-02-04T12:50:00.000-05:00

My friends Christina and Chloe (who, alliteratively, were also freshman year roommates in Carmichael Hall) have both pointed out to me on separate occasions that I have neglected this blog. My apologies...I'm a deadbeat blogger.

However, Amy, Matt, Nate, and I have been feverishly working to prepare for April Open House (AOH), to be held on Friday, 4/18, Thursday, 4/24, and Friday, 4/25. On these dates, the university invites accepted students to visit the Hill, meet current students and faculty members, and attend various events and lectures. Essentially, it provides admitted students with an intro to Tufts. Whether you're still deciding among schools or already planning to matriculate at Tufts, it's a really fun and exciting day!

In total, over 500 current Tufts students volunteer in some capacity with AOH. If you register early, you have the option of staying overnight in a dorm with a freshman or sophomore host. Who knows--you might even meet the "prefrosh" who will wind up being your freshman roommate!

From planning the mock classes to selecting the students who will speak on panels to painting the cannon to inflating myriad brown and blue balloons, we interns will be swamped with work in preparation for AOH. Still, we do it because we all had positive AOH experiences ourselves--and we hope you do as well!

Happy New Year!

2007-12-29T19:13:00.000-05:00

On behalf of the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, we wish you a wonderful 2008 and the best of luck with your college search!

Controversy!

2007-12-06T17:16:00.000-05:00

Last week, the Political Science department sponsored a lecture by Stephen Walt, the infamous co-author of the highly controversial book The Israel Lobby. Regardless of their personal opinions on the subject, students packed Barnum Hall to hear Professor Walt's argument; in fact, the lecture hall filled up so fast that there was not only an overflow room in which students watched a live broadcast of the lecture, but the hallway outside the room was also packed with students simply listening.

Professor Stephen Walt speaking at Tufts on November 27th.
Media Credit: Aalok Kanani, Tufts Daily

Having speakers on campus such as Professor Walt exemplifies one of my favorite things about Tufts... the fact that students and faculty here are not only willing, but also excited to engage in the controversial. More so, this engagement is done in a thoughtful and intellectual way -- we are not a school at which you see violent protests and screaming matches, but, rather, thought-provoking dialogue that involves those from multiple perspectives.

For instance, the New Initiative for Middle East Peace (a student-run think tank that does some amazing work, such as sending students all over the Middle East to conduct research), as well as Friends of Israel and Hillel, held well-attended pre and post-lecture discussions on the contentious book. Even more telling was the general campus dialogue that surrounded the event, penetrating classes, the Daily and all other campus media, and the general conversation in dorms, dining halls, and on the Quad. Students wanted to talk about this controversial issue -- they didn't want to take Professor Walt's opinion, or anyone else's for that matter, at face value.

This discourse is still continuing on campus, even a week and a half after the original event. And I think that's pretty cool.

Oh, and a shameless plug: feel free to read my contribution to this discourse right here!

Q & A

2007-12-02T18:53:00.000-05:00

Ah, if only navigating the college search process was as failproof as this Doonesbury comic! Unfortunately, there are several hoops you have to jump through before depositing your intent to enroll at an institution. The alumni interview is one such Herculean feat of strength.

Once Tufts receives your Supplemental Form to the Common Application, your information will be forwarded to the Tufts Alumni Admissions Program (TAAP). TAAP is composed of over 2,500 fantastic alumni who volunteer to assist their alma mater. A member of the local alumni committee will contact you to schedule an interview. We do not offer on-campus interviews.

Last year, TAAP was able to grant interviews to 87% of the 15,000+ applicants worldwide. All the same, interviews, although highly recommended, are not required for admission. If you are unable to meet with an alum or if you opt not to pursue an interview, this will not affect your overall application.

For example, I applied Early Decision I to Tufts and was unable to secure an alumni interview due to the time constraint and my isolated geographic location. This wasn't held against me and, fortunately, I was still accepted!

Tufts highly recommends that you submit your Supplemental Form early; the sooner we receive it, the greater the likelihood that you will be granted an alumni interview. This is particularly important for individuals who live near metropolitan areas or in regions that we consider to be "high-volume" in terms of number of applicants.Luckily, Jack Bauer of "24" will not be interrogating you. The interviews that alumni conduct enable admissions officers to gain a fuller idea of who you really are--what makes you tick, what makes you unique, and, ultimately, what you can add to the microcosm that is Tufts. These are somewhat informal meetings at your high school or a local coffeehouse, but they can have a significant impact on your file. I think of interviews as humanizing the application process.

Tufts admissions officers stress that they do not want you to reiterate your transcript or information that you already included in your file. Use this opportunity to introduce something new about yourself! Talk about what you are doing in your favorite class, the new club you joined, or the book you're currently reading. The conversation goes both ways: feel free to ask your interviewer any questions you may have about Tufts. Ask him or her how attending Tufts shaped his or her professional life.

Remember, as intimidating as they may seem, alumni interviews are not patterned after the Spanish Inquisition. So take a deep breath, relax, and just tell us why you're awesome!

High Flying, Adored

2007-12-01T17:02:00.000-05:00

One of the best experiences I had in all of college was when I studied abroad in France and went "parapenting." It's kind of like tandem paragliding. Without any prior training, you drive up to the top of a mountain, set up a canopy, and then literally run off the slope until the wind catches the parafoil and you become airborne. Here, my friend Hillary (who is currently studying abroad in Florence) prepares for liftoff:Parapenting is free-fall, so you pretty much feel like you're flying. It was an exhilarating endorphin rush! (This, coming from someone who hates roller coasters, camping, or anything remotely dangerous. Making s'mores in the microwave is about as outdoorsy as I get.) You can use hand controls to steer and do aerial acrobatics.Here, my friend Kayt looks out over the water mid-flight. She graduated from Tufts this year and is currently doing Teach for America in the Mississippi Delta.We were able to see the entirety of Lake Annecy! Talloires, the village where we took classes, is one of the outcroppings on the right.Kayt, ecstatic that she survived the landing in the middle of a field.Meanwhile, other Tufts students who studied abroad opted to ride camels in Israel, scale Machu Picchu, and attempt bungee-jumping and sky-diving in Australia!

I Need Caffeine Just Thinking About My Weekend.

2007-11-28T19:00:00.000-05:00

After spending a week at home (i.e., lounging on a sofa and watching cheesy Lifetime Movies for six days on end), I returned to campus to find an avalanche of work and a plethora of extracurricular events. As the semester winds down, student groups rush to schedule their performances and meetings before finals, creating an on-campus atmosphere that is simultaneously hectic yet exciting.

For example, I'm attending a Senior Leadership Committee meeting in the Campus Center tonight. This group is an offshoot of the Senior Class Council which is composed of elected students who work with the Programming Board to plan social events year-round. We'll be discussing tomorrow's November Senior Pub Night, to be held at Hurricane O'Reilly's for the 21+ crowd.

Tomorrow, I'll be at Bendetson, helping to finalize the group of new tour guides by gauging their "mock tour" skills. I have a three hour-long Senior Honors Thesis class and then I'll board a bus for Pub Night. On Friday morning, I'll accompany Matt, one of the other interns, and two other seniors as we drive to a high school and interview applicants on behalf of Undergraduate Admissions. This is part of the Tufts Student Ambassador Program, a pilot initiative. (We'll try not to be too intimidating!)Since I'll be grilling twelfth graders all day, I won't be able to make Friday's inaugural meeting for the Committee on the First Year Experience. Bruce Reitman, the Dean of Student Affairs, and James Ryan, the Coordinator for Programs and Special Projects, will be meeting with a group of students to discuss how the university can improve Freshman Orientation and first year resources. I think it's great that Tufts administrators make an effort to include students in their decisions. We actually have a say in how the university should be run!

Luckily, it's not as though my life consists of meetings. This weekend, I'll be going to "Major: Undecided Refutes Evolution," a sketch comedy show, and the Spirit of Color dance show. Sadly, I won't be able to make it to Torn Ticket II's performance of "Cabaret" or the Tufts Spirit Coalition's Mr. Jumbo Competition. Such are the constraints of a 24-hour day.

College is great because it's all about the things you do in your spare time. Sure, you go to class for about 15 hours a week, but there are endless opportunities to explore beyond the classroom. When pressed to name something she would change about Tufts, Amy tells parents, "There aren't enough hours in the day!" Still, I'd much rather have too many things to do/see/attend than too little. Now about that homework...

Spotlight on Famous Jumbos...and Stephen

2007-11-27T20:38:00.000-05:00

Pictured at left is my housemate, Stephen, who just received a letter of acceptance from a law school! It's the first school that has contacted him thus far, and now he's eagerly awaiting more admissions decisions. After studying International Relations and Spanish at Tufts, he plans to focus on transnational corporate law in Latin America.

But before Stephen drafts litigation in Lima, we've devoted our Tuesday night to television. (DVR is a glorious, glorious thing. I can't believe I survived three years of college before obtaining the ability to record Martha Stewart every weekday.) Tonight, we've watched two episodes of "Nip/Tuck." One of the guest stars this season is Oliver Platt--also a proud Tufts alum!

Some other famous Tufts alums who have made their mark in the entertainment industry:

- Meredith Vieira (the current co-host of "The Today Show")
- Peter Gallagher (Sandy on "The O.C." and recipient of Tufts' Light on the Hill Alum Award last year)
- Hank Azaria (perhaps best known as a voice actor on "The Simpsons")
- William Hurt (recipient of the Oscar for Best Actor for "Kiss of the Spider Woman" in 1985)
- Neal Shapiro (former President of NBC News; he recently taught an ExCollege course at Tufts)
- Ben Silverman (Co-Chairman of NBC Entertainment and NBC Universal Television Studio)
- Rob Burnett (the Executive Producer of "Late Night with David Letterman")
- Brian Koppelman (screenwriter whose credits include "Rounders" and "Ocean's Thirteen")
- Tracy Chapman (multi-Grammy Award-winning artist)

Also, actors Jessica Biel and Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute on "The Office") both attended Tufts for several semesters.

My favorite fictional Tufts alum? Elaine Benes, Julia Louis-Dreyfus' character on "Seinfeld." My favorite soon-to-be Tufts alum? My housemate, Stephen Blaker. I predict he'll be a bigger celebrity than any of them.

The Gong Show

2007-11-19T15:44:00.000-05:00

You may be well aware that Tufts has 7 a cappella groups, a Symphony Orchestra, a Pep Band, a Gospel Choir, and the like. However, you may not be as familiar with our Javanese Gamelan Ensemble. The gamelan is a musical ensemble consisting primarily of gongs and metallophones. They are found throughout much of Southeast Asia and the Indonesian archipelago. A Javanese gamelan consists of two tuning systems, 5-tone slendro and 7-tone pelog, and several individuals rotate from one instrument to the next to play each composition.

So for years, I've been telling visitors on my tours about our Javanese Gamelan Ensemble, although I had never seen it myself or even knew what it was exactly. I somehow thought it was a giant drum; clearly, I was wrong. My friend Emily, with whom I lived last spring, is majoring in Psychology and Economics, but she needed to fulfill an Arts distribution requirement before graduation. She signed up for the Gamelan Music class and likes it so much that she is contemplating taking it again in the spring!

Thus, I found myself with 6 friends at the Boston Village Gamelan and Tufts University Gamelan Ensemble Concert on Saturday night. We applauded as Emily pounded on the various gongs and xylophones. It was such an incredible spectacle--the bamboo, brass, and bronze gamelan filled the entire stage and musicians kneeled on cushions while they played. Tufts' gamelan was built by the most renowned living gongsmith in Java, Tentrem Sarwanto, and it took him 9 years to complete it. (Unfortunately, my digital camera is broken, so I don't have photos of the actual gamelan--just images I borrowed from Google of other gamelans!)

The performance was held in the Distler Performance Hall, which has been dubbed the "best small recital hall in the Boston area." Distler seats 300 people and is located inside the Granoff Music Center, a $27 million building that opened this past January. The Tufts Department of Music has a very strong ethnomusicology program. In addition to the Javanese gamelan, we have a Kiniwe West African drum and dance ensemble!

Sarabande Supershow

2007-11-16T21:33:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning at 6:15 and accompanied Amy and Dan Grayson (an Admissions Counselor who graduated from Tufts in 2006) on visits to three schools in the Boston suburbs. When we returned to campus nine hours later, Amy immediately set to work interviewing undergraduate tour guide applicants and I went home to collapse on a sofa. She has much more energy than me.

There are a lot of energetic individual on campus, but I'd like to dedicate this entry to hardworking dancers. Tufts students with terpsichorean talents are in abundance. I studied dance for 12 years and was burnt out by the time I reached 9th grade. My close friend Kat, on the other hand, majors in Art History at Tufts, works at the Museum of Fine Arts, and spends 17 hours a week at dance rehearsals--let alone the time she spends choreographing routines for others!Tonight, I went to the Sarabande Supershow to support some of my dancer friends (Maggie, Steph, Kat, Laura, Marissa, Cassie, and Rachel--you were all fantastic!) Sarabande is a repertory dance ensemble that features a variety of dance styles--ballet, pointe, jazz, modern, tap, etc.--and the members choregraph all of their own work.

Sarabande stages a major recital each semester and invites other Tufts performance groups to showcase as well. This year, the following groups performed: Tufts University Bhangra Team; Spirit of Color Performing Arts Troupe; Tae Kwon Do; a Pen, Paint, and Pretzels dramatic soloist; TURBO Breakdancing; Major: Undecided Sketch Comedy; and TDC, the Tufts Dance Collective. Static Noyze, a Boston-based hip hop troupe founded by five male Tufts alums (and former Spirit of Color members), performed their unique mix of innovative and stimulating theatrical dance. Their spectacle tonight was based on Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are" and set to tunes by Bright Eyes, Timbaland, Nine Inch Nails, BT, and Justice.

Before they came to Tufts, many of the Sarabande members studied with premier programs like the Boston Ballet School, the Joffrey Ballet, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Ballet Academy of Baltimore, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, to name a few. Prior to college, my friend Marissa (pictured at right) was on the USA Rhythmic Gymnastics National and World Championship teams. She even trained at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, NY for a year! Today, in addition to being the President of Sarabande, she's double majoring in Child Development and Spanish and is one of the Head Writing Fellows at the Academic Resource Center.

That's one of the things I love most about Tufts: there are so many talented individuals from diverse backgrounds. Tufts students are involved in a plethora of extracurricular activities and find creative outlets for their many interests. You're always finding out something new about someone else!

You can read more about Sarabande here:
http://ase.tufts.edu/sarabande

Food, Glorious Food

2007-11-14T01:00:00.000-05:00

So it's 1:15 AM and I've been Googling "corn pudding" for the last 10 minutes instead of writing a literature review for my thesis. I'm a master procrastinator, and I generally do my best work only if there's a deadline within a looming 24 hour span. Hence, looking up my favorite fat-laden Southern recipes instead of being studious. I am so excited for Thanksgiving! I will eat, eat, eat.

I joke to visitors that Tufts is the one school in the country where you will not gain the "Freshman 15" by fall break--because of our infamous hill. It's kind of like going to school on a giant treadmill. I've made it to the gym once this semester; walking around campus is a boot camp in itself. (Don't worry, walking around isn't that cumbersome. I'm just not very athletic. I also failed Pee Wee Tennis when I was 4 years old.)

But it's great that we're constantly being aerobically challenged, because the food on- and off-campus is amazing. Our dining halls are ranked among the best in the nation. At Carmichael, our uphill dining hall, we have professional chefs who come in Monday through Friday to prepare individual meals according to daily themes. Tuesday Stir Fry Night is legendary. You go down the salad bar, pick out your veggies, and then tell a chef, made-to-order, what meats, noodles, sauces, spices, and rices you want sauteed in a pan. Teriyaki sauce, udon noodles, chicken, pineapple, snow peas, broccoli, and sprouts is my standing order.

Because of our affiliation with the nation's only graduate school in nutrition science, we have a variety of healthy and tasty options. Vegans, vegetarians, and individuals with dietetic concerns have a lot of dining hall options. My housemate, Stephen, has Celiac Disease and Dining Services has been really accommodating in ensuring there are enough gluten-free entrees.

I once walked into a dining hall at 9 am on a Tuesday, bleary-eyed, to find The Beach Boys blasting overhead, bikinis, towels, and inflatable pool toys thrown everywhere, and, in the center of the floor, an industrial-grade cotton candy machine. It was Beach Madness Day. Try and tell me this isn't the greatest school.

What Emily Post Never Told You

2007-11-11T13:10:00.000-05:00

Although my own college search process went fairly smoothly, no one ever sat me down and said, "Okay, here are the do's and don'ts of how to apply to schools." In retrospect, applying to college is very much akin to applying for a job. You should strive to be professional, succinct, and knowledgable. So here are some of Katie's Tips for Applying to Any School:

1) Create a generic-sounding email account for your college search process.

For the past two summers, I've worked in the phone room of Bendetson Hall, performing a lot of data entry. I'd highly recommend that you create a professional (if bland-sounding) screenname. Use a combination of your first name, last name, initials, and/or birthdate--this also makes it easy for us to keep track of who you are should we need to contact you via email. If you wouldn't feel comfortable telling your email address to your grandparent, then consider creating a separate account solely for collegiate correspondance. We've seen a lot of questionable screennames--anything from sexual innuendoes to alcohol references to the names of other colleges. Keep it PG.

2) Keep those passwords Tufts-friendly.

By the same token, be conscious of your usernames and passwords for Admissions Connection or any university-affiliated websites. When we pull up your profile on our inquiry system, we can see your private information. This is good if you ever forget your password and need to call us to retrieve it. This is bad if, in the case of one student, your password is the name of your top college choices--neither of which is Tufts. Ouch.

3) Do not send out mass emails to colleges.

Every now and then, Bendetson prints out emails from prospective students in which they inadvertently list all of the schools to which they are applying. "Your school is my #1 choice!" the student writes, beneath a CC bearing the names of 25 colleges. You're breaking my heart.

4) Proofread, proofread, proofread.

At every information session I have attended, an admissions officer joked about how a student can hurt his or her essay by referring to the wrong school. "I can't wait to attend Tufts because I've always wanted to go to school in California!" is perhaps not the wisest thing to write. The MS Word Find/Replace function is not always your friend. Similarly, "Tufts" is singular, not plural. Beware your apostrophes--it's "Tufts' application," not "Tuft's application." That little dancing MSWord paperclip will do nothing to alleviate this error.

CollegeWeekLive

2007-11-09T11:07:00.000-05:00

Do you want to speak with Tufts admissions officers and current students but don't have the ability to travel to campus?

CollegeWeekLive is a two-day virtual college fair to help prospective students in their college planning by connecting them with colleges in a live, interactive environment.

It will take place on November 13th and 14th from 3:00 EST to 11:00 EST. The event will draw thousands of students from the US and abroad and over 50 major US colleges – including Tufts! Attendance is free.

You can register and learn more here:
Online College Fair - CollegeWeekLive, November 13th - 14th

Wendy's Extreme Challenge

2007-11-08T11:50:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite (and more ridiculous) freshman year memories was when my friends Katherine and Jessie decided to do the "Wendy's Extreme Challenge," i.e., attempt to eat everything on the Wendy's Super Value Menu in under an hour. It was an epic ordeal, much akin to "The Odyssey," but with more trans fats and triglycerides. Ten of us traveled with them on the subway to cheer them on in their quest for glory.

Here they are in Davis Square in athletic apparel, gearing up to be "Extreme:"

Everything they were required to eat: four double burgers, two salads, four sides, a dessert, a drink, and a partridge in a pear tree. Katherine, to cashier: "I'll have one of everything on the Value Menu...and a Diet Coke."

I still get queasy every time I look at this photo.

The battlefield before and after the siege. Note the stopwatches.

Jessie wasn't able to cross the finish line, but Katherine ate everything in 56 minutes and 38 seconds. And as for me? I have the commemorative t-shirt: "I Was There When Kat & Jessie Did the Wendy's Extreme Challenge."

The Waiting Game

2007-11-07T23:47:00.000-05:00

Tick tock. Tick tock. At this point, if you're a senior, you may have already submitted your Early Decision I application to Tufts. You may be in the midst of culling recommendations from your teachers or preparing your personal essays for the January deadline. You may or may not be at your wit's end.

Everyone says that the senior year of high school is the most fun, but, honestly, as the college search process becomes more and more cutthroat and complex, it's easy to lose sight of this fact.

Like many of you, I went to a high school where kids felt they were vying for the same spots at elite institutions. One admissions officer jokes about so-called "helicopter parents"--the ones who breathe down your neck and unintentionally exacerbate an already stressful atmosphere.

One of the best decisions that I made as a junior was not to tell anyone my SAT scores, GPA, or what schools I was considering/visiting/applying to in the fall. Some people found this odd, but, as I watched my friends judge themselves against one another, it felt good to be somewhat removed from the drama. From April 2003 onward, I knew that Tufts was the school for me--but I didn't make this common knowledge until December of that year, when I was accepted. I spent the rest of my senior year doing extracurriculars and getting to know my fellow seniors--instead of competing against them.

So, relax, breathe, and trust that the decision is out of your hands. Admissions officers are arbiters of applications--not applicants. (Read Jacques Steinberg's "The Gatekeepers;" it's a fascinating look at the admissions process and it reminds you that it's all an imperfect science.) It's not a personal slight if you don't get into a school, and, hey, in the long run, you'll probably wind up at the institution that is right for you. College is pretty fantastic no matter where you go.

Remember, nobody's perfect: I failed my driver's license test twice and still got into Tufts.

My Favorite Autumn

2007-11-07T13:00:00.001-05:00

Hello! A couple of weekends ago, I traveled to New Durham, New Hampshire for the Tufts Christian Fellowship fall retreat. Tufts Christian Fellowship is one of the two Christian fellowships on campus and is part of InterVarsity International. I love autumn in New England so I took some pictures to share with you! Enjoy!

Now the leaves are falling and snow may be on the horizon...maybe you guys will get to see some sledding pictures soon!

Matt

A taste of abroad..

2007-11-06T14:46:00.000-05:00

I spent my junior year studying abroad in Israel, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Below are a few of the literally hundreds of photos from my incredible year. I hope that these can give you a little taste of what being abroad was like - please feel free to comment or email me with any questions!

Dome of the Rock!

Meeting Prime Minister Olmert (I swear, that's me right in front of him!). I actually worked directly with the Prime Minister's brother, Yossi Olmert, last summer as a Media Fellow at The Israel Project (a fellowship that I found out about through a connection at Tufts!).

Nov. 4, 2006: Memorial on the 11th anniversary
of Yitzhak Rabin's assassination. The big sign in the front reads "11 years since the murder".

Snow...in Jerusalem....this happens only every 4 or so years, so it was pretty amazing to be there for it! Of course, the next day we were at the beach in Tel Aviv and it was 70 and sunny.

Cheering on the Israeli national team at the Israel-England World Cup qualifier game.

View of downtown Jerusalem from Hebrew University at Mt. Scopus.

Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day) at the Kotel (Western Wall)

Immediately after Memorial Day, Israel transitions from memorializing to celebrating on Yom HaAtzmaut (Independence Day). A few weeks later, Jerusalem celebrates Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day). In a region that is scarred by decades of conflict, I think that these national days play a huge role in helping people comprehend and deal.

One of my seminars took a trip along Israel's borders with Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. This is the Israeli-Syrian border and that compound is the UN Peacekeeping force.

Speaking of borders, a few friends and I decided to head on over to Jordan for a long weekend in December. This is the Arava border crossing, which is down by Eilat (Israel) and Aqaba (Jordan)

We traveled further north in Jordan to Petra -- here we are in front of the monastery, one of the many incredible ruins left over from the time of the Nabataeans (over 2000 years ago!).

A Jordanian sunset.

Of course we rented some camels for part of our trip.

Lastly, this was the view from my bedroom window, overlooking the Old City (the gold dome is the Dome of the Rock)... it was pretty incredible. I lived in student apartments right down the road from campus. While my apartment-mates were all Americans and Canadians, most of the students in the complex were Israeli and I'm still very good friends with many of them!

Again, please feel free to comment or email me (amy.spitalnick@tufts.edu) with any questions or comments!

Nice day for the ducks

2007-11-06T11:46:00.000-05:00

Nice day for the ducks
Tufts University ducks
Rainy, 53

We aren't really ducks
We're all proud to be Jumbos
We blog about it

Admissions is Warm
The haiku are flowing forth
The kettle is on

Ellen brings me tea
Even though I made the tea
I mean, it's not hard

Katherine Winter
Is to blame for this blog post
I am innocent

Like weeping willows
Maybe bamboo or something
Well that's what she said

It's almost TELESCOPE time!

2007-11-06T00:44:00.000-05:00

This weekend, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions will be welcoming several hundred visitors to campus!

TELESCOPE, a progam for prospective students of color, first generation college-bound students, students in low income or rural areas, and other students interested in learning about diversity within the Tufts community, will be hosting pre-registered visitors this Thursday, November 8th and Friday, November 9th.

Fabulous TELESCOPE interns (and current Tufts students) Joel, Mary Jo, Amanda, and Kerline have spent months meticulously planning every detail and ensuring that the prospective students are entertained and enlightened about all things Tufts. You can read the interns' mini biographies here.

If you are interested in participating in future programs or learning more about TELESCOPE, cruise on over here.

NY Times: "Tufts Asks for 250 Words of Wisdom"

2007-11-04T17:21:00.000-05:00

Today, The New York Times featured an article about Tufts' new optional essays in its Special Section on Education Life:

Fun Fact: Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr., the publisher of The New York Times and chairman of The New York Times Company, majored in Political Science and graduated from Tufts in 1974. Every Sunday, free issues of the Times are delivered to the freshman dorms on campus!

What do you think about the new optional essays?

2007-11-03T16:42:00.000-05:00

Chat University: Chats for Prospective Students

You are invited to join Tufts Admissions Officers and current students for several online chats:

East Coast Prospective Student Chat
Monday, November 5th from 6 pm to 9 pm EST

MidAtlantic, South, Midwest, Southwest, West Coast, and U.S. Territories Prospective Student Chat
Tuesday, November 6th from 7 pm to 10 pm EST

International Prospective Student Chat
To Be Announced

You can log on to Chat University via the following link: http://admissions.tufts.edu/?pid=143

Photos from Talloires, France

2007-11-03T12:26:00.000-05:00

Last summer, I studied abroad for 6 weeks in the Haute-Savoie region of France as part of the Tufts-in-Talloires program. Tufts alum Donald MacJannet and his wife, Charlotte, purchased an 11th century Benedictine priory and donated it to Tufts in 1979 for use as a European Center. For more information about the program, you can visit this website: http://ase.tufts.edu/frenchalps.

This is "Le Prieure," or the Priory, where we had our classes:

This is the main stretch of road in Talloires--a tiny village situated on Lake Annecy, the most pristine lake in all of Europe. Talloires reminded me of the opening scene in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" where Belle sings about her provincial town.

This is a view of the lake and dock immediately behind the Tufts Priory...I'm hardly an outdoorsy nature person, but it was honestly the most beautiful place I've ever been!

Some views of Lake Annecy from Veyrier-du-Lac, the neighboring village where I lived with my host family:

There was a small beach in Talloires; here, Tufts students are pictured on the floating dock:
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I also lived for a time in Annecy, the closest city to Talloires. Annecy is called the "Venice of France" because of the canals that run through the Old Town, the historic area downtown:

On our next-to-last night in France, Tufts threw a dinner cruise aboard a boat and I snapped this shot of the sun setting over the lake:

I'll post some more photos from France later. Forty to 50% of Tufts juniors opt to study abroad each year; indeed, we have been named Best University for Study Abroad Programs several years in a row!

Senioritis

2007-11-01T14:21:00.001-05:00

Greetings from Medford!

We've enabled the Comment feature, so feel free to provide us with feedback about what you'd like to see on this new blog. We'll also do our best to address any questions you may have about Tufts, from the application process to daily life here on the Hill.

I just came back from a meeting with my English major advisor during which she signed degree checklist sheets, approved my registration for spring classes, and discussed my Senior Honors Thesis. Seniors need to file some paperwork within the next few weeks to verify they have met academic requirements; for me, the scariest "reality check" moment thus far was when I had to type out how I wanted my name to appear on my diploma.

Then I walked to the Tisch Library and ordered my yearbook photos online. Facing the prospect of my last semester in college and the reality that I need to come up with a post-graduation plan is terrifying...I completely empathize with every high school student who is attempting to navigate the college search process!My own college search process was relatively painless. I am fortunated to have a sister who is three academic years older than me, so I tagged along on all of her college visits and watched her negotiate the application process. Since I had toured so many schools with my sister, by the time it came around for me to select schools, I only needed to visit a few. I literally sat down with a copy of the Princeton Review and methodically Sharpie'd out the names of schools that did not interest me until I was left with a list of 17 potential colleges. The more that I read about Tufts University, the more that it interested me, and I had this cliched gut feeling that I would really like it.

So, on a miserable, dreary Saturday in April of my junior year--my dad likes to say that "it was raining and sleeting sideways"--I visited Tufts. (Irony of ironies: Amy, another Senior Admissions Intern, was on the same tour!) "If you think that you like Tufts when the weather is this bad, just imagine how much you'll like it when it's actually nice outside!" joked our tour guide. I turned to my parents and said, "This is it. I'm applying Early." Tufts was only the second school that I had personally visited and the only one to which I applied in the fall. Luckily, everything worked out for me!

Now, as a tour guide myself, I have trekked backward through rain, snow, and sunshine hundreds of times to help visitors gain a better sense of all that Tufts has to offer. On your college visits, it's important to keep an open mind. Consider the place where you could imagine yourself best fitting in with the student body. Spend time wandering around the campus by yourself--without your parents, guardian, or chaperone--and gauge how comfortable you feel. Follow up your visits by reading the schools' newspapers online and gaining an unfiltered sense of daily life at any respsective institution.

Tomorrow, I'm joining Admissions Counselor Jon Godsey (who graduated from Tufts in 2006) on visits to some schools in Northern Massachusetts. It should be interesting!

Summer 2008 Tour Guides after painting the cannon: Amy, Miranda, Matt, Katie, Stella, Adam, Whitney, and Josh. Maybe you were on one of our tours!

Hello! Shalom! Salaam!

2007-10-31T17:02:00.000-05:00

My name is Amy Spitalnick and I'm one of the Senior Interns in the Admissions Office (and apparently the slowest in figuring out this whole blog thing!). I'm from Lynbrook, NY (right outside of the city) but, even as a Yankees fan, I love living in Boston!

Matt, Nate, Katie and I are looking forward to helping you out with your admissions process - we're here to answer any questions that you may have and give you our perspective on life here at Tufts.

As a double major in Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies, with a minor in Communications & Media Studies, I feel as though Tufts has allowed me to translate my in-class experiences in a hands-on, real-life way...

I spent my entire junior year studying abroad in Jerusalem, an experience that can only be described as amazing. Now back on campus as a senior, I serve as President of Tufts Hillel (www.tuftshillel.org) and am involved in a number of interfaith and political dialogue initiatives. In the past, I've been involved in the Tufts Democrats, Friends of Israel, and the Tufts Daily; I have also played the violin in the Tufts Symphony Orchestra and the Klezmer band (of all things!).

I've been lucky enough to work for a number of political campaigns and organizations, including the 2005 NYC mayoral race, a strategic communications firm in Boston, and The Israel Project (a non-profit that educates the media about Israel). I'm now enrolled in a senior Political Science seminar taught by Alan Solomont (a politico and professor so experienced that only a Google search of his name might do him justice). Some of our guest lecturers include Howard Dean, Sandy Berger, Bob Farmer, Simon Rosenberg, Mark Mellman....you get the point. I actually got to give a presentation in front of Governor Dean the other week... I think it's pretty safe to say that Tufts has given me the opportunity to put my academic background to good use!

Please feel free to comment, send us questions, and utilize this blog as a resource in your college search! We're looking forward to hearing from you and hopefully seeing you on campus!

A Long, Interesting Journey

2007-10-31T11:57:00.000-05:00

Five years ago, a seventeen year old boy climbed the memorial steps and knew that Tufts University was the place that he would spend the next four years of his life. It had been a long trip, a flight from Iowa to Chicago, and then onto Boston. A long walk from the T because he knew nothing yet of the shuttle running every thirty minutes straight to Tufts, and of course did not know the shortcut that would have cut at least minutes off of the trip. He went on to visit ten more schools from New York to California with stops in the middle. However, come April, he knew, once the acceptance from Tufts came, where he would attend...

As I find myself reflecting on the time between when I first stepped on campus and now, as a I sit in the admissions office, a senior intern, on the complete opposite side I stood as a senior in high school, I realize that my time here has flown by. Choosing during the middle of sopomore year to double major in Political Science and Economics seems like yesterday. Choosing to take a chance and invest more of my time in the Tufts Christian Fellowship seems like just last week. There have been tough times, there have been great times, and I have learned more than I ever expected...

Through this blog, I hope to be able to give you, the prospective student, a view into at least one of the many lives lived here in Medford/Somerville at Tufts University. Feel free to post comments, ask questions, and let us know what you all want to know about. Good luck in your college search!

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T10:59:00.000-05:00

It's Halloween on the Hill! In honor of the spooky day, some Tufts students decorated the Jumbo statue in front of Barnum Hall. I'd like to think his jack o' lantern pail is full of peanuts (or Mr. Goodbars, at the very least).

It's probably fitting that our beloved pachyderm mascot (voted the 18th most unique mascot in the NCAA and the only mascot whose name is featured in Webster's Dictionary) opted to dress as a ghost this year. After all, he's the only college mascot with the dubious legacy of perishing not once but twice in a freak accident. (We'll explain his epic history in a future post. It's a tearjerker.)

Pumpkins have also cropped up on random places around campus. The Crafts Center hosted a carving workshop last Saturday, and a jack o' lantern bearing Che Guevara's visage greets visitors to West Hall.

Today, The Tufts Daily created a ghoulish humor issue in the vein of their April Fool's Day pranks. Hillel is holding a "Challahween," the Tufts Association of South Asians is hosting a Gulab Jamun Halloween Social, and local children will probably be stopping by President Bacow's residence, the Gifford House, for some candy.

I went to Senior Halloween Pub Night at Ned Devine's in Faneuil Hall last Thursday. Seniors aged 21 and older dressed up in their holiday best, competed in a costume contest, and watched the second game of the World Series on a projection screen (GO SOX!) Tonight, I'll probably just stay home, watch "Gossip Girl," and eat copious amounts of Twizzlers.

Happy Halloween to all of you!

Now we jumbin, slowly jumbin wit you

2007-10-30T13:32:00.000-05:00

I've decided to stop slighting the blog and actually make an entry - I might even do some design changes later on, if you're lucky.

My name is Nate and I'm the engineering outreach intern here at the Admissions Office. I'm having a great time working at the Admissions Office so far, it's been a great atmosphere to come into after working at MIT Lincoln Labs last summer and TAing in Halligan in my sophomore year.

I spent the last year abroad in London, and I left with some bad habits, some good friends, and a whole lotta memories. It was the most enriching experience I'll probably ever have, and I encourage everyone to go abroad, regardless of how much Jumbo love you might develop.

I'm a Massachusetts suburb boy who likes the city and loves the Hill. I'm a little too trendy and a lot too self-aware, but I'll probably be able to answer any question that you could ever have, or at least point you in a good direction. Come join us at Bendetson Hall, it's a lotta fun!

Let's get this started...

2007-10-29T13:45:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Mumbo Jumbo!

My name is Katie Winter and I'm a senior at Tufts double majoring in English and American Studies. I'm originally from the small town of Hershey, PA--site of the world's largest chocolate factory! I applied Early Decision I to Tufts and it's been one of the best decisions I've ever made.

This year, I am one of four Senior Admissions interns at Bendetson Hall. I was the Tour Guide Co-Coordinator my junior year and I've worked at Admissions during the past two summers. Over the years, I've served as a tour guide, Overnight Visit Coordinator, and April Open House Executive Board member.

In addition to my work at Admissions, I'm currently writing a Senior Honors Thesis on the representation of the Japanese American internment experience in children's books. I had an internship at the Boston Children's Museum and studied abroad in Talloires, France. I write and perform in Major: Undecided, Tufts' only sketch comedy group, and I've been involved in Concert Board, Surf Club, and several community service organizations. This August, I served as an Executive Orientation Leader for incoming freshmen.

This blog is a new venture for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, and we interns (Amy, Matt, Nate and myself) look forward to sharing our perspectives on all things Tufts.