Tufts prides itself on being an interdisciplinary institution. With over 150-plus majors and minors for students to choose from, students often find themselves exploring new intellectual interests that may shape their academic and career goals.
One of these former students, Charlie Nadel (LA’25), a current graduate student at University of Massachusetts Boston pursuing a master’s degree in Latin & Classical Humanities, found himself changing entire schools at Tufts. As an undergraduate, he made a large transition from the School of Engineering to the School of Arts and Sciences.
Nadel entered Tufts as a mechanical engineering student, but felt disconnected from the coursework and its applications. After reevaluating what subjects excited him most and thinking critically about the impact he wanted to have, Nadel decided to switch to majoring in classics, with a long-term goal of teaching Latin.
“I can sit and do some math, do some numbers [and] do some computer stuff, or I can actually make a difference in people’s lives by interacting directly with high schoolers and middle schoolers,” Nadel said.
Although initially apprehensive about the prospect of more humanities and writing-based assignments, Nadel found them to be enjoyable.
“I like being able to work out puzzles, and I think I had a lot of either anxiety or resistance to writing, just because I would get overwhelmed and shut down. But as I developed those skills, I realized that it was something I was not only able to do, but actually wanted to do,” Nadel said.
His inspiration to pursue this endeavor stemmed from both experiences in other classes and the influence others had on his upbringing.
“A lot of the reason I wanted to teach middle or high school is because I had a bunch of influential teachers, and I wanted to do that for other people,” he said.
Although Nadel had support and resources from the classics department, he had to learn a different skillset to accommodate the new structure and workload of humanities courses.
“[There was] a big learning curve. … The biggest thing to adjust to was going from problem sets to readings,” Nadel said.
For other students, majors and pre-professional tracks are highly influenced by family expectations. This was the case for Jeremy Nartey (LA’20), who now works in finance and strategy at Google.
“I’m originally of Ghanaian descent, so [I’m a] first-generation Ghanaian American. [The expectation] … was all doctor, lawyer [and] engineer [tracks] when you get to a school like Tufts, because [your family] wants you to graduate [and] have a good job,” Nartey said.
After experiencing some of the coursework and looking to his personal interests long-term, continuing with the pre-med track for the remainder of his time at Tufts did not seem to be a sustainable option.
“The more I dug into what [medicine] entailed, courses started to reveal to me that, hey, maybe this might not be for [me],” he said. “[I realized] if this is not the outcome I want, I need to pivot, because I’m essentially wasting my time, and I could better invest in other places.”
Nartey always had a passion for financial literacy and entrepreneurship, but he was not sure about pursuing those subjects in college. Nartey credits one conference that he attended in his sophomore year with giving him the confidence to take a leap of faith and pursue a major in economics and a minor in Africana studies. He emphasized the importance of the guidance he received when it came to choosing a career path.
“I really shout out the people [that] I connected with — graduates, senior folks and alumni — that helped ask me the right questions about what I wanted to do, and started to steer me … in the right direction, because I think sometimes you got to just take the next best step,” he said.
During the process of transitioning from pre-med to economics, Nartey cited resources such as the FIRST Resource Center and his major advisor as focal points of tactical support and mentorship. He specifically named Jared Smith, a FIRST Center career counselor at the time, for his help with course planning.
“We had a lot of conversations … because I was definitely freaking out,” Nartey said.
For other students, such as Iyassu Girma, a senior double-majoring in economics and international relations with a minor in French, initial major choices are influenced more by earning potential and trends.
“I knew I wanted to study economics and French coming into undergrad, however I also wanted to hop on the computer science wave and benefit from the employment trends that the job market was showing at the time, which left me in a bit of a limbo,” Girma wrote in an email to the Daily.
Girma noted that part of his hesitation to commit to adding the international relations major was influenced by the opinions of friends and family.
“Looking back, I think [external pressures] led me to delay my decision to switch by a lot longer than I would have done had I relied on my own input,” Girma wrote.
Each of these individuals took a risk in making a pivotal decision, and although it was not easy, all noted the sense of fulfillment they felt after making the change.
“Although the new International Relations course plan along with the French minor was not an easy load at all, I believe that I was willing to fail a lot more on my new path as opposed to the previous path. And the reason was that I was simply a lot more comfortable to fail on a path that I felt would be a part of a future I would love,” Girma wrote.
Ultimately, a student’s major at Tufts does not solely dictate their career trajectory; the resources they utilize and the connections they make are just as important.
“My experiences [and] the people I networked with, as well as key things at Tufts I took advantage of [such as the Career Center] and [the] advice [and] counseling [of my] professors that I really had great relationships with … [were] key pillars [in building a career],” Nartey said.
The opportunity to explore a variety of different fields of study at Tufts provides students with the chance to find out what they enjoy, even if it takes them a few tries along the way.
“I think this gets back to why I originally chose Tufts, which was [a] more well-rounded [institution]. … I didn’t just want numbers. I wanted to also learn about the humanities, and I guess it ended up sticking,” Nadel said.
