Well, well, well…
The situation I am in while writing my last first column is interesting. I’m currently writing in the car with my family, on our way back from dropping my sister off at Dartmouth. A young freshman. Yesterday, my family helped me move into my senior, off-campus house. I bet you can deduce which move-in was more taxing…
The whole situation is quite ironic and, at some points, quite interesting. The contrast has been pretty apparent between my college freshman sister, wide-eyed with a heart full of naivety, and my senior self, with no meal plan, barely any classes and a 401k.
For example, our respective move-ins were incredibly different. My family tends to do a small trip to Boston for a few days before move-in day. Back in 2023 (oh wow), during our vacation, we had no idea what to do in Boston. We were your typical tourists, acting like fish out of water, trying to develop a Boston accent and somehow always ending up in front of Paul Revere’s house in the North End.
Instead of packing essentials from Chicago, I decided to buy everything I needed from a Target near Tufts. Neither my family nor I realized that this was a terrible idea. By the time we got to the Target in Porter Square, the shelves were desolate, the employees had disappeared and even the mice were visibly shaken. Let’s just say, I was not able to use soap in the shower for a while.
Move-in day itself was, as my parents described it, “traumatic.” Hauling my luggage up to my dark and lonely single in Hodgdon Hall wasn’t the best first impression of Tufts. I had done zero planning for my room (this was before AI), and I really only had sheets, a pillow and enough underwear to last me a month without laundry.
My sister’s move-in could not have been more different.
This time, during our family trip to Boston, we were able to create a well-designed itinerary that led us across Boston, stopping at specific stores and eating delicious local meals. We even went out to explore Salem! And we learned from our last Target run, so we went to the Target out near Salem.
For my sister’s move-in day, we were much more prepared. We brought a toolbox, double-sided tape, command hooks and she even had a fully laid-out plan (and if we deviated from it, we had to go sit in time-out).
Would this have been possible without me? The older child? The guinea pig child? Of course not. Hell, this time we even bought two different tapes because we didn’t know which one would be better and tested them out with the posters and prints in my room. Let’s just say, I learned which tape was weaker when a large poster fell on my head while I was asleep.
Even beyond those things, the contrast between my sister worrying about her first semester and me trying to grasp the reality that this is my last first semester was very apparent.
As a senior, I thought I would be more prepared coming back to Tufts. I know exactly where my classes are (I’ve been cursed with a class in Lane Hall), I know which groceries I need and I know what I want to accomplish this semester. But even though I have three years of Tufts under my belt, I still shared feelings of unpreparedness and nervousness with my sister.
At first, I attributed it to not being on campus since last December, but that just wasn’t it. I soon realized that it’s just the nerves of moving in. No matter the year or your age, moving your whole life into college and leaving everything else behind is always tough. There will always be that whirlwind of nerves, excitement, anxiety, happiness, novelty and unpreparedness.
And while I initially thought that was a bad sign, perhaps it isn’t. Maybe it’s a good sign. Going into whatever year you’re in with that brick in your stomach is not just normal, but good. For me, and for all my other seniors, feeling that same novelty, anxiety and unpreparedness I felt as a freshman is exactly what I want.
So with that, let me introduce myself once more. I’m Ben Rachel, a senior majoring in economics and minoring in computer science. I write a biweekly column in the Tufts Daily called “A Jumbo’s Journey,” where I document my experiences, what I learn and any lessons I think might be relatable.
To both my returning and new readers, welcome. I hope you will continue this journey with me, one last time.
With novelty and anxiety,
Ben Rachel
