Most Jumbos would identify their primary occupation as "student"
Senior Adam Weldai is part of a small group of students at Tufts that has decided to take on an elected political position in the 'real world.' This fall, Weldai is running unopposed for a seat on the School Committee in his hometown of Malden, Mass.
After serving on the committee throughout high school as a student representative, Weldai decided to take his role to the next level in 2007 by campaigning for an official position. He lost the election by a single vote. His spirit was not broken, however. Last March, he announced that he would run once again.
"I wasn't necessarily planning on running for a second term," Weldai said. "But I guess over the few years between now and 2007, I really felt that my opponent who won was not serving our people as well as she could have been."
Dedication to his community is what ultimately keeps Weldai active in local politics.
"My main motivation is that I really love my town
Humble about all that he is taking on, Weldai acts as though his future position on the committee is just another extracurricular activity he has decided to pick up, like the non-academic activities of any other Tufts student.
"I feel like students, especially students at Tufts, are incredibly involved in a lot of things but they also are very civic-minded," he said. "There are a lot of students at Tufts who are doing a lot of fascinating things that don't involve holding elected office. I think that everyone has learned how to manage their time within and out of the Tufts bubble."
Natalie Masuoka, assistant professor of political science, commends students like Weldai for stepping off the college campus and getting involved in politics. She cautions students, however, about taking on too much.
"This opportunity offers invaluable leadership experience and hands-on knowledge of how local governments function," she said in an e-mail to the Daily. "However, the job is similar to that of other full-time jobs and requires students to manage their time between work and school efficiently."
Weldai is not the only student at Tufts in recent years to split his time between academic and political life.
Scott Merrick (LA '08), who was a student at Tufts for five years, learned to carefully manage his time as a sophomore in 2004 when he campaigned for the New Hampshire House of Representatives, where he earned a seat in 2005.
At first skeptical about taking on such a big commitment, Merrick eventually realized that he could not pass up the possibility of a dream job in favor of term papers and lab reports.
"I was asked to run for office ... and at first because I was a student I didn't think that it was possible," he said. "I was in shock and quite honored to be asked but at the same time I knew that college, especially at Tufts, is a major commitment and takes a lot of time. But then I started thinking about...the fact that a chance to run for political office at such a young age doesn't come up very often, and that the political climate seemed ripe for something like this. Looking back I'm so glad I did that. I have no regrets at all."
Fall semester of Merrick's sophomore year was spent commuting back and forth between his hometown of Lancaster, N.H. and Tufts to campaign and talk to his constituents as much as he possibly could. He would return to Tufts each week on Sunday night just in time to finish his coursework and prepare for the upcoming week of classes.
Merrick said that while it was often a struggle to balance the campaign, classes and sports (he was a member of both the track and cross-country teams), he would not have had it any other way and he views his experiences in the State House as invaluable.
"I really enjoy being an elected official," he said. "The opportunities that are afforded to me to help change people's lives positively
