I’m now officially a class of 2013 Jumbo. The Matriculation Ceremony made me so happy that I chose to go to a small(ish) private university instead of some huge state school. I love that the entire freshman class can actually sit together on the Quad or the President’s Lawn. And I loved that President Bacow used Bob Dylan’s ‘The Times they are A-Changin’ song in his speech. The past few days have been so full of meetings, panels, and events that I’ve hardly had a chance to check my email, let alone make a substantial update. The schedule’s finally calming down now, which is good because I just kept getting more behind on sleep.
Orientation is a very bizarre experience. It’s this period of really strange limbo between my old life and my new one. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad we have it. I understand the necessity of all the panels, and I’m glad we’re not just thrown into college and expected to know what we’re doing the minute we get there. But at the same time, I can’t say that I know what my life is going to be like. I won’t know that until I get into a more regular routine with classes. For some reason that seems weird to me.
Then there’s the whole socializing concept. When I remove myself from the situation I recognize the hilarity of 1,313 (look! 1,313 of us are graduating in ‘13! I think it’s awesome) freshmen trying to make friends in 5 days. But in the midst of it I find it more stressful than fun. I’m not good at small talk, I didn’t do a pre-orientation program, and no one else from my high school is going to Tufts. I’ve done the old, “Hi! Where are you from? What do you want to major in?” 30 second chat so many times, but I probably remember only a handful of the people I’ve talked to. This isn’t a complaint; it’s just an observation. I’ve been able to meet a ton of interesting people, and I’m glad I’m not too set in a circle so early in the term. I’m also thankful that it’s helped me become much more self reliant in a very short time. It’s a skill that I’ve always lacked. I know I’ll be making closer friends as time goes by.
I have been thoroughly enjoying the nighttime activities though. The hypnotist was fantastic. The comedy show was hilarious. Guess the Straight Person was awesome. Jumbo Idol was impressive. I loved the shows on the lawn the first night, and I think I’m becoming obsessed with a cappella. The next couple days are going to be tricky. There are too many options and I can’t decide what I want to do more. But can you tell I need to learn more/better adjectives?
Side note: I’m quite proud of that alliteration in the title of this post. I generally find it very difficult to come up with titles.
