Failing Big: Retreat yourself

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go on not one but two retreats for Tufts clubs: TCU Senate and Tufts University Social Collective (TUSC). The Senate retreat was a 24-hour, overnight trip to Nature’s Classroom, while the TUSC retreat was a shorter trip to Dave & Buster's -- starting just two hours after I returned from Senate.

Being off campus from 8 a.m. Saturday through 8 p.m. Sunday was a huge time commitment, but I was determined to make it work. This was my chance to bond with the other members of these clubs outside an academic setting. Maybe this was the key to finding the community I was looking for.

I was excited and optimistic getting on the Senate bus at 8 a.m., but over the next hour and a half, my emotions fluctuated. What if everyone on Senate was already friends and didn’t want to add anyone else to the circle? I was not only new, but also not even a senator — would being a trustee representative put up some weird divide? I sat alone on the bus ride there, filled with too many emotions to sleep like everyone else.

We arrived and had an awkward (for me) 30 minutes of free time while the executive board set up their activities. I babble when I’m nervous, so I spent that half hour rambling about nothing in particular, mentioning at several points how nervous I was. It wasn’t a good look.

But then team building activities started, and people seemed open and excited to meet me and all the other new members. I made solid connections with people throughout the day and felt a bit more secure in my position.

But what really kicked it off for me was receiving my Senate mentor. All the new members were paired up with an experienced member. My mentor and I discovered we both had John Mulaney stickers on our water bottles, and from there it was history. While most pairs split up after the required meeting time, we continued to chat, even going so far as to perform the classic “Stacy’s Mom” for everyone at that night’s bonfire.

Waking up the next morning, I realized I had lost all my nervousness. I had someone to sit with on the ride home, which meant someone to sit with at our weekly meetings. I was more sure than ever that this journey for community had already led me to an amazing group of people that I looked forward to being a part of.

Though exhausted from the Senate retreat, I hauled myself out of bed after an hour nap to go to the TUSC retreat, where I was so tired that I considered leaving early. But, on a much smaller scale, this retreat functioned the same: I met a lot of new people who I look forward to getting to know better.

It was a crazy weekend, but it just might have kickstarted the best semester so far.