In keeping with tradition, Tufts' Admissions Office has proudly hailed the coming fall's class as among the most impressive the University has ever seen. Congratulations are in order, therefore, to the Jumbos of the class of 2010, whose high SAT scores, improved class rank, and loads of extracurricular activities will deliver them, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, to our beloved Hill.
As Dean of Admissions Lee Coffin and his staff weed the most promising candidates out of yet another crowded applicant pool, the members of the class of '06 are surely reflecting upon their time at Tufts and reminiscing back to their own freshman years. In the midst of these bittersweet memories, the graduating seniors must decide on their first real steps into the world.
In many ways, it is the graduating seniors who have the more exciting and more difficult road ahead of them than do the students of the incoming freshman class, but both incoming and current Tufts students would be wise to consider the position of the nearly-graduated - everyone will be there soon enough.
Long past filling out major declaration forms but not yet having made it to the large maple desks in posh offices that so many Tufts students secretly dream of, the young men and women about to close a pivotal chapter in their lives must take action quickly -commencement is less than four months away, and the clock is ticking.
And although college is an experience in and of itself, parents, as well as the fast-approaching "real world" (which includes your federal student loan repayment plan) force graduates to remember that higher education is also a means to an end, whether that end is a job, graduate school necessary to the pursuit of a certain career or some mixture of the two.
As a volunteer for TAAP, the Tufts Alumni Association Program, I have been privileged to assist the Tufts Admissions department in a small way by becoming an alumni interviewer. My "service" to Tufts - one of the few extracurricular activities the 50-plus hour workweek of "real life" affords me the time for - is to represent Tufts at high school college fairs and to interview prospective Tufts students and report my "findings" to the University.
I've found that I've done more in my five interviews thus far than to answer questions about the University and to tell the eager 17-year-olds about the various academic programs, extracurricular offerings and other on-campus happenings of which they might not otherwise be aware. More than that, I've tried to give these students some advice - advice that current University students, even members of the class of 2006, might stand to benefit from.
The good news is that, believe it or not, attending Tufts has armed you with the preparation and resources you need to financially support yourself (*gasp!*) and make important life decisions.
Between the Career Services office, that shiny diploma and the soon-to-be well-honed ability to eat nothing but pasta during finals week while simultaneously taking exams, finishing a thesis, weighing the freedom and price of living independently against the savings and potential discomfort of returning home, deciding whether or not to go straight to grad school and doing some serious soul-searching regarding your relationship with your college boy/girlfriend, Tufts grads are truly ready to take on the world.
But just a little advice, for those who might need it: Graduating with honors, writing a brilliant thesis and being inducted into prestigious honors societies translates to diddily-squat if you haven't also worked at meaningful internships to gain work experience, made friends with faculty who can give you sound advice and ultimately write letters of recommendation, networked with friends, family friends, Tufts alumni and others through Career Services to explore your employment options, and learned to write more-or-less coherently.
Even if you are already a second-semester senior, make sure you've done, or at least begun to do, all of the above. It's never too late to add to your resume and to gain practical experience. If you're just beginning your career at Tufts, lucky you! You have lots of time to "find yourself."
But if you're a graduating senior, evaluate your situation as you come full circle - leaving Tufts, just like when you first arrived, is just the beginning. Take time to decide what you really want to do before plunging into a job or shipping off to graduate school. Do what makes you happiest, and that will, in the end, serve your interests best.
Don't repeat the mistake of one of my TAAP interviewees, who claimed to have been actively involved in 15 clubs in high school but who couldn't tell me anything significant about his participation in any one of them. In college and afterwards, choose activities that you either truly enjoy or those that will lead you to a career later - or ideally, both. No one will care about your dabble in campus politics/writing for the Daily/founding your own club unless you yourself got something out of it. If dear old mom and dad expect you to go to medical school but you'd rather pursue school counseling with your sparkly Tufts biopsychology major, do it. It's your life, and you are responsible for ensuring your own happiness.
And for goodness' sakes, don't settle for something just because it is being offered to you. Take a low-paid internship if it's more interesting than your alternatives after college.
Do something less glamorous than your friends if it means getting valuable experience in your field of interest. Wait to go to graduate school until you are emotionally and financially prepared. Keep in touch with your college buddies, as well as the University itself.
And remember, you survived Dewick's mystery-meat, long hours of late-night study in the Tisch Reading Room and connived a way around the distribution requirements of the University's curriculum. You'll soon be a Tufts University alum, and with time, you can do anything you like. Good luck to the class of 2006 - and to the class of 2010,
too!
Yevgenia ("Jane") Shtilman, LA'05, majored in international relations and French and is now experiencing "real life" working in New York City -- law school can wait. She is a former member of the Tufts Daily's Editorial Board.
