Jenn Marsidi needs to be congratulated on having the initiative toaddress the lack of student friendliness that exists on this campus in her Viewpoint ("The Tufts smile," 10/31). While all of us have our own friends and have the opportunity to make acquaintances with many different people each day, it seems as though students are too caught up in their own thing or too involved in their own social circles to acknowledge others around them, especially if they've had a class with someone the semester before or live on the same residence floor. How long does it take to greet a person you encounter on the way to class or see waiting for the shuttle?
I too am guilty of not acknowledging former classmates if I happen tosee them around campus. The problem is that I was not the only one guilty of the crime. It is, as Marsidi put it, "exceedingly frustrating that I know that they know they know me, and yet they won't smile...." Is it because we are afraid to let other people know that we remember them? Are we supposed to feel embarrassed because we do? Because college students just don't remember other students outside their own group of friends? Whoknows.
Perhaps it is also my upbringing that makes me understand where Marsidi is coming from. Even as a native New Yorker, I also find it perturbing that fellow Jumbos don't acknowledge one another. I'm not saying that everyone should go around greeting random people, all I am saying is that being smiled at has a great impact and can make somebody's day a little bit better. It's nice to be remembered and feel a part of the largerTufts community.
Maria Robertson, LA '02
