Ben Rachel is a columnist for the features section of the Daily. Ben is a junior studying economics and computer science, and can be reached at benjamin.rachel@tufts.edu.
For those who are wondering if I’m still alive, I can confidently say I think I am. I’m going on my third full week in Barcelona, and my stats have been pretty crazy: 10 nights out past 3 a.m., 50 bocadillos, 100 cafés sin leche, 574 Google Maps searches and one Instagram post (on my spam, because I’m still thinking up a caption for my real account).
Cakes and candles to 2026! Wow, just like that we are staring at another clean slate. A whole new year full of memories, stories and experiences waiting for us.
Well, we are here: dreaded finals. It feels like yesterday we were in the midst of midterm season!
If you have been keeping up to date with my column publications, you would know (based on my last column) that I was recently in the trenches and in the midst of midterms. As of this past Wednesday, I finished all my midterms for the fall 2025 season — just in time for finals!
Well here we are again. Midterm season. Let’s do some math together. This is my third year writing “A Jumbo’s Journey,” equating to just under five semesters. Given that each semester comes with a midterm season — some lasting months — this makes midterm piece number five. Wow, I am quickly losing content.
Telling people that I am a part of a DJ duo is super strange. It’s not because of the actual act of DJing, but because my first-year self would probably have a heart attack if I told him what I was doing with my time. My partner and I are going into our second year as the DJ duo known by the name rnr.dj (everyone should go follow on Instagram: @rnr.dj_).
Tufts is pretty unique — in all facets of the school. Ranging from the distinct and quirky clubs and organizations Tufts offers, such as Tufts Dance Collective and Alpha Tau Omega, to the eclectic style choices students rock in the Tisch Library basement, Tufts stands out as a university.
I was recently detained at the border between the U.S. and Canada. My friends and I decided that it would be fun to spend some time in Montreal before the school year got too tough. Unfortunately, to our dismay, the school year got tough before classes started.
Welcome all to another year of A Jumbo’s Journey! This is all very exciting, but also very strange. Three years of using the Daily as a platform to yap and rant about anything that crosses my mind is definitely not what I foresaw my college experience to be.
Wow. This is crazy. The semester is already coming to an end. Or, I guess we still have to survive finals. It’s definitely been a semester. To be honest, it’s definitely been a YEAR.
