Today's ceremony will not be the first Commencement that most graduating Jumbos will have participated in. Many seniors will remember feeling the anticipation of going to high school while standing awkwardly at their middle school graduation ceremonies. Most will remember their high school graduations, when they felt a mixture of relief and eagerness to finally have the promised land of college on the horizon. But none of these moving-up ceremonies have possessed quite the weight that graduating from college carries.
As graduating students reach out to finally grasp those diplomas in their hands, they might think about that first overwhelming day at Tufts — the fear of not making friends, of getting lost among 5,000 other people and of not being able to keep up academically. As scary as that was, outgoing Jumbos realize now that they were entering a protected community. Many speak negatively of the "Tufts Bubble" — the result of having a campus outside of Boston — and of attending a small school where student-student and student-faculty relationships are personal and familial, claiming that students are too sheltered. While this "bubble" may have at times left students ignorant of some aspects of life outside of campus, it is what has allowed students to focus, to grow and to prepare. Tufts' outgoing seniors have been cultivated into bright, ambitious young adults.
The idea that Tufts is a self-contained community, removed from the rest of the world, may have some truth, but students at Tufts are not immune to what is going on in the outside world. Tufts has given its students the opportunity to learn within the confines of a safe, caring environment, but walk into Carmichael Dining Hall any given morning and you will see students reading The New York Times. Peer over at another table and you're likely to see a student playing around with his or her schedule, trying to fit in both an internship at a Boston research institute and ultimate Frisbee practice. Although it is easy to forget that daily homework has meaning outside of the classroom, it is quite apparent that Tufts students have been conditioned to care, to get involved and to stay informed.
The one thing that students do remain ignorant of is their ability to fail. Sure, many of those receiving a diploma today undoubtedly have felt anxiety about getting a job, but few are really doubting their competence; at Tufts, students are not taught to think of failure and hopelessness as options. It is this very attitude that will allow students to succeed in life off of the Hill. Tufts has made its students into individuals resistant to giving up or giving in.
Even freshmen who have yet to step foot into the job market know that it is something to fear. Graduating seniors have been immersed in the job search for quite some time now — long enough to realize that the same-old isn't going to cut it anymore. They have been forced to think outside of the box and find new ways to make themselves stand out. The result? They have become more creative, resourceful, open-minded individuals. They have opened themselves up to newer, more daunting opportunities, and they just might find themselves successful in something they never expected to try. From the moment this year's graduates stepped foot in a school that demanded excellence in all fields, that demanded that they fail a little bit and then find a way to succeed, students were being prepared for this job market, for this economy — for whatever comes next.
Tufts embraces a culture of active citizenship — not just in the sense of community service and volunteering, but also as a lifestyle of working toward goals and always being involved. Students at Tufts uphold the idea that there are many ways to have an impact on the world. While members of the Leonard Carmichael Society work on local projects to end hunger and homelessness and to encourage education and better health, members of Engineers Without Borders design and build water-treatment systems for communities around the world. A host of student literary magazines touch individual lives by sharing opinions, fears, experiences and hopes. In 2008, Tufts students ranging from the Tufts Republicans and Tufts Democrats to nonpartisan groups like Tufts Hillel ventured to canvass in swing states such as New Hampshire for the presidential election, unafraid to express their opinions and to make a difference in the community — both within and beyond the "Tufts Bubble."
The rush to join, to participate and to initiate cultivates a tradition of students who, upon entering the world beyond Tufts, are in the habit of aiming high and not stopping until the task at hand is done. The Class of 2010 is fully prepared to begin achieving great things.
