"Hi, What's your name? Where are you from?"
"Long Island."
Five minutes later.
"Hi, my name is Meredith. Where are you from?"
"A suburb of Boston."
That was me at freshman orientation. Orientation was a blast - like summer camp with drinking - but I felt like a fish out of water. I'm from Texas, and although there are many non-northerners here, they are outnumbered by so many east coasters that I feel like an anomaly.
I was asked about Texas and stupid things such as, "Do you have a cactus in your yard?" (That was embarrassing because the answer was yes.) Then people found out I was from Houston and lived in Houston Hall, and let me tell you, that was fun allllllll year. Here is my question: If Tufts is supposed to be so diverse, why are there so many east coasters here?
Before I came to Tufts, I could not tell the difference between Larchmont and Mamaroneck, or what commuter rail to take to Worcester, or which school was better, Spence and Riverside. And you know what? I don't care! Hearing about these small details is not helping me to learn about different places and experiences. It's just northerners thinking they are "da bomb." East Coast? Please. It's been done.
It's not that I'm against northerners. My boyfriend is from Boston, and many of my friends are from the North. But there are just so many of them. I bet if you went to each room on campus, it would be hard to find one that didn't have at least one person from the East Coast (except for mine, which is cheating, because I told you about it). It makes Tufts seem more like the regional school it was rather than the diverse institution that it wants to become.
When President Bush was reelected last year, many people at Tufts were angry. I was one of them. But some people went off about how "we should secede from the South" and how "all people who voted for Bush were ignorant southern conservatives."
I found myself defending a President I don't like because I felt my background was being challenged. I tried to tell people the South is not full of "crazy conservatives" and we should respect other people's opinions if we want them to respect ours, but my explanations fell on deaf ears. I guess it's just easier to buy into the stereotype than learn about a region different from your own.
I've found the multitude of Yankees makes this campus less politically active. At my high school, my political feelings made me a minority, and I learned how to reason with people without angering them. Here liberals say things I would have never said to my Republican friends, and it goes unnoticed because everyone agrees with them. That may get you far at Tufts, but it won't work outside of this bubble.
I'm so over the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry, too. I have a small secret to confess. My entire family, except for my sister and me, is from Massachusetts. When the Red Sox play, I root for them. I've been to a couple games, and I watched every playoff game last year. (I also watched every Astros game, which is why my grades made a sharp decline during that period.) But by the end of the World Series, I was so sick of both Yankees and Red Sox fans that I didn't watch their games this year. My friends and I decided not to watch the games in the "Yankee" room because they were so serious, and by serious, I mean seriously annoying. And I mean, I'm all about rioting, but I was disgusted when I saw what happened in Kenmore Square. Red Sox and Yankees, your time is over. No one cares.
My roommate is from St. Louis, and I am from Houston. This creates an interesting rivalry. The Astros are playing the Cards, and for once I can watch the games in peace with someone who actually cares about the outcome. These teams are rivals but not enemies. I'm pretty stoked about a non-east coast World Series this year, and not just because my Astros might be in it. This will be a World Series that I won't have to listen to half of my friends complain about all year. I can't wait!
So listen up all you Southerners, Midwesterners, West coast playas, Canadians and U.S. Virgin Islanders. We have to rise up and make our presence known at this school! The next time that someone says something about the North, shoot back a reply about where you live. The next time someone talks about the difference in climate between New York and Boston say, "Oh yeah, well can you tell me what state St. Louis is in?" or "I'm from Canada. What now?"
Don't let those East Coast kids get you down. Let's reclaim Tufts before it's too late.
Meredith Pickett is a sophomore majoring in History. She can be reached via e-mail at Meredith.Pickett@tufts.edu.
