LIVING

FINDING YOUR WAY HOME A LOOK INTO TUFTS SPECIALTY HOUSING

Moving to college often means moving away from home and being immersed into a collaborative community unlike any other. However, this move doesn’t mean you can’t find the same communities you have always known and loved. At Tufts, we are proud to have over 17 different culture/identity-based housing options to choose from. These options allow students to celebrate their identities with other students and mentors. But don’t just take our word for it—see what real students have to say about what it means to feel at home at Tufts.

BY BLAKE ANDERSON ’24

ILLUSTRATION BY RAÚL SORIA

AKBOTA “BOTA” SAUDABAYEVA ’22 SLAVIC HOUSE

“I love living in the Russian/Slavic/Central Asian Culture House on campus because I am able to share my home with people who have the same cultural background and academic interests as me. Almost all of my housemates take Russian with me, or have some kind of amicable tie to the region. There’s a warm sense of camaraderie in the house. We love to share ingredients for dinner, socialize at events organized by the lovely RSCA President Ashley Aron ’22, and study in the common room together. And there’s a great opportunity to practice Russian outside of class!”

DUNCAN KIRSTEIN ’23 JEWISH CULTURAL HOUSE

“I think a lot of our bonding began with cultural activities. Every Friday night, some of us would gather (and some would Zoom in), observe Chabad, and eat dinner. After that, we would watch a movie or something, and we all just became closer over time. We even got to do a Seder, which was a lot of fun. I think having something that connects all of you facilitates that sense of community a lot more.”

EMILY LAZORCHAK ’21 GERMAN HOUSE

“Living in the German House has been a huge part of my Tufts experience! During my first year at Tufts, I found community by attending the house’s weekly coffee hour (Kaffeestunde) and getting to know the house residents, exchange students from Germany, and other Tufts students studying German. Now, as a house resident myself, I organize similar events that bring students together and share the German language and culture with the wider Tufts community. I have loved getting to meet and live alongside people whose interests are similar to my own, and my housemates and I enjoy planning game nights, watching German TV shows, and more. I will certainly miss the German House after I graduate, but the experiences I have had here and the people I have met will stay with me long after I leave the Hill.”

Lucas Schwartz ’22 came to Tufts considering a computer science degree. But, after exploring different courses, following his fascination with infrastructure and how humans interact with the built world, he found civil engineering. Lucas is excited about the impact he feels he can make there. Now he works with Professor Laurie Baise in her research group, currently focusing on using remote sensing data to draw important conclusions about how to respond to earthquakes. Here, they discuss their interests, research objec-

tives, and the future of civil engineering. BY SUSANNAH MURRAY ’24

FROM CLASSROOM TO CONVERSATION

How did you meet? Lucas Schwartz: I met Professor Baise last semester, when I took Intro to Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Laurie Baise: It’s a project-based class, and Lucas picked a project on earthquakes, which is also my research area. It ended up being a great project, and then I invited him to be part of my research group. LS: I remember one of the first conversations we had was about how to structure the formula that I was using to prioritize building structures. After class, we were going back and forth over how we should weigh the different factors of a building, like the height, what year it was built, the materials it was built from. I remember that as one of our first interactions in the class, just trying to figure out the best way to model buildings’ deficiencies. What does the work you do together now look like? LS: Right now I’m part of Professor Baise’s earthquake hazards research group, and what we’re focusing on is leveraging remote sensing data and looking at how we can use that to identify earthquake damage. We’re building up this image library, because the end goal is to use that library to train a computer through machine learning to take all the remote sensing data, scan through it, and spit out a report. It’s kind of a long process of looking at aerial imagery, and then drawing circles and shapes around landslides or patches of liquefaction. LB: Overall, I’m very interested in identifying and mapping hazard[s]. Sometimes we develop predictive models, and sometimes we look at what happened and try to understand why it happened. This particular project is taking some of the inventories where we’ve looked at damage and past events but we’ve never really looked at the images. We also want to identify the infrastructure that’s damaged. I’m interested in the cause, why something happened, but I’m also interested in coming up with the summaries of damage after events that can be reported out. LS: One thing that I really liked about my GIS journey is that a semester ago I was just learning the ropes of the software and applying it to my own project, which was earthquake related. Now it feels like moving from the classroom environment to more of a real-world research environment doing similar things I’ve really enjoyed. What excites you about the future of civil engineering as a field? LB: What I’m interested in is thinking about the discipline in a more connected way. Lucas is working on the Puerto Rico earthquake. One of the things we’re hoping is to look at that earthquake, identify damage, and evaluate it as a system. My interest in terms of the future of civil and environmental engineering is how do we train experts not just in one part of it, but how do we train students so that they can go on and contribute more broadly, so that they understand people and infrastructure in nature, all together. LS: Yeah, that resonated with me. I think the idea of it all being so interconnected and cross-disciplinary is really important, because you can’t just have a single structural engineer going and designing a dam and calling it a day. You need to involve local politicians and you need to involve biologists to tell you about how it’s going to affect the nutrient flows and the stream. There are so many different fields that I think come together when you’re working on these built environment projects, and I think it’s really important to have that level of interconnectedness between all the interested parties.

TUFTS CHECK THESE OUT

Memories from the Class of 2021

Now that they’ve come to the end of the road, we asked the members of the Class of 2021 to reflect on their times at Tufts. They’ve traveled abroad, hosted parties, learned German, and much more. As they say goodbye to the dear old Brown and Blue, check out some of their wonderful memories.

Tufts Quiz Bowl [I] traveled to Yale for a tournament on a Saturday. We left Tufts around midnight and arrived in Connecticut at around 2:00 a.m., got breakfast at a diner in New Haven, and then competed against a bunch of schools in the New England area. Loved getting to compete at a real tournament so early in my first year, and will always cherish the experience.

Tufts Trading Fund Traveled with Tufts Trading Fund to three banks in New York City to learn about the financial services industry and meet with alumni. [It] ended up being an incredible trip where I got to bond with fellow club members, learn a lot more about my desired career, and make connections with Tufts alumni who helped me grow and develop throughout my college years.

Super Bowl I loved hosting a Super Bowl party with my housemates in the German House for all of my friends and the exchange students last year! The exchange students (who come to Tufts for their year of study abroad) enjoyed getting to watch at a reasonable hour, thanks to being on East Coast time, and we had fun teaching each other the rules of the game, debating over the best commercials, and enjoying the halftime show together.

Illumination Ceremony I will never forget my first Illumination Ceremony... I even saved my candle!

Tufts-in-Madrid in Medford Meeting up with my Tufts-in-Madrid cohort the semester after we got back. It was great to build community while abroad, and even better to bring that community back to campus! Jumbo Days Jumbo Days (Tufts’ admitted student days) are always the highlight of my year. I’ll never forget showing up to German class with a bundle of balloons tied to my backpack after leading a group of admitted students to a mock class. The looks on my classmates’ faces (and my professors’) were priceless!

SQUAD, TV, Food, and More Volunteering at a Black-owned food co-op with SQUAD in 2018. Doing the Cupid Shuffle at the Africana Welcome BBQ. Watching Love is Blind with 10 or so peers over a plate of Jollof rice that a visiting alum made in the Africana Center. Taking French and Gospel Choir with a friend I made on the first day of pre-orientation in 2017.

Hair Adventures Bleaching hair with friends at 4:00 a.m. in Stratton Hall. Recklessly taking advantage of $5 movie days on Tuesday nights. Peace & Pancakes There are so many!! Some of my favorites include going to IHOP at 2:00 a.m. after exams, watching Insecure in Capen House, screaming my lungs off at Break the Stage, hanging with my event staff crew, spending countless hours in the lab, and teaching with Peace Games!

Among Friends Leading a Tufts Wilderness Pre-Orientation trip after having gone on the trip myself as a first-year. Lying on Prez Lawn on an 80 degree day in February. Moving into a house at the start of junior year with my friends that I met during orientation week my first year.

You Have to Laugh I really enjoyed late night studying, laughing, and bonding with friends before morning exams.

ANYA, AMEYA AND

ANYA TISDALE ’22

What does it mean to be an artist? It’s a loaded question, and just about anyone you ask will have a different answer. Some might say it requires talent, an innate ability, or skill that sets creators apart from appreciators. Others might say that having a strong work ethic is the most important quality in an artist. But for Ameya Okamoto ’23 and Anya Tisdale ’22, it’s about responsibility.

AND ART ACTIVISM

AMEYA OKAMOTO ’23

Written by Chris Panella ’21 Photography by Kathleen Dooher

I’M

speaking with Ameya Okamoto ’23 and Anya Tisdale ’22 on a Zoom call—I’ve heard of their talents before, so it almost feels like talking to two Tufts celebrities. But the more we chat, the more I feel like we’re connecting as students and fellow artists. They laugh and talk about each other’s work. Tisdale’s got incredible mood lighting in her dorm room. It’s a conversation. We all agree that, when push comes to shove, artists are who they are because of the dedication they bring to their crafts. That, and the unique perspective they have on their experiences and the world. “If you’re going to call yourself an artist, that’s a bold term to use,” Tisdale says.

Tisdale explains that being an artist isn’t just a moniker, but a job that comes with putting something out into the world. Artists have to fill a gap, tell a story that’s missing from the narrative, and accurately represent differences and identities. In other words, they have to be responsible. And radical. “Art for social change is not traditional,” Okamoto says. “Creativity and protest go hand-in-hand.”

For both artists, that connection is best shown with using art in activism. “I think being an artist, especially with activism, is a responsibility because you have the ability to connect with people on a level that’s really emotional,” Tisdale says. Catching someone’s attention, informing them of an issue, and keeping them engaged in social justice. Art gets people interested in the fight. And the connection between the creator and the consumer is innately human, fueled by visuals and sounds that are more focused on resonating feelings and communicating important messages.

That’s key in our current turbulent times. I’m talking to Okamoto and Tisdale after 2020’s COVID19 outbreak, severe economic inequality, and Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. It’s been a whirlwind, but it’s prompted both Okamoto and Tisdale to work. Okamoto spent the summer creating Irresistible, a collective of artists for social change—more on that later. She was featured in various publications like The Boston Globe, interviewed on her protest art and efforts to build connections between Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). That involved Tisdale, too. But it’s not how the two first met.

We trace their time before and at Tufts. Okamoto did Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life’s 1+4 Bridge Year, which ended up being a year making art. Tisdale’s studying film and media studies, an exciting major. But while the two seem like close friends now (check their Instagrams), Tisdale explains that she liked “nobody” just before they met, as if she’d come to Tufts and couldn’t find a place to fit in.

She equates it to putting on a façade; Okamoto says it reminds her of something her mother used to say. “She’d tell me, ‘you fit in everywhere because you don’t fit in anywhere,’ and that was hard for me.” It’s a reminder of how strange coming to college can be—especially a predominantly white institution like Tufts.

The two found each other by being their most extra selves—expressive outfits, fun attitudes, and loud colors. “We were working in the mail room,” Tisdale tells me, laughing, “and I was working at mail services and wearing cute outfits every day.” Neither was alone after all. But it raises an important question. “Where do I belong in a space that feels like it’s not for me?” Okamoto asks. She relates it to her experience as a woman of color online and offline. “The baseline for us to do something that’s political is so low. Even merely existing in space that’s not for you, like social media or Tufts University, is political.” Tisdale agrees, adding that it’s connected to her focus on creating art specifically about and for Black women.

Right now, Tisdale’s work is mainly focused on watercolors and makeup. But the latter comes with some difficulties. “Even claiming to be a makeup artist was hard for me to do, because I didn’t see a lot of Black makeup artists getting the recognition they needed,” Tisdale says. It made her question how she could enter the field, what brands she should work with, and what she needed to do to stay aligned with her values.

Watercolor painting has become more prominent in Tisdale’s art, especially since COVID-19 began. “Over quarantine, I did a series of smaller portraits of Black women who you don’t typically see in the beauty industry.” She began by questioning who was most visible in our perceptions of beauty—this manifested into looking at various beauty campaigns and brands and deciding to make art specifically dedicated to that representation. It’s about bringing those identities into spaces where they’re not given attention.

Check out more of Ameya’s and Anya’s work here:

Ameya Okamoto www.ameyamarie.com/

Anya Tisdale www.instagram.com/anya.tisdale

Tisdale’s thoughtful about lifting up Black women and making them visible. The eight watercolor portraits tested her as a painter (Tisdale calls herself “intermediate” at the craft). “Getting my skin color and darker skin colors on the page was a learning process. And I try to put a little bit of myself into the work I produce.” She says painting darker skin tones can be more complex, but it’s important to capture depth and accuracy in art. Despite her “intermediate” level, she talks about watercolor painting comfortably and confidently. And Tisdale’s currently doing commission work. It’s exciting to see her hone her craft into a profession and a specific subject she wants to make art about.

For Okamoto, lifting up diverse identities is also something that’s important. But her work stems back to growing up pulled between Portland, Oregon, and New York City. “I grew [up] going back-and-forth between this center for diversity, and this lily-white town,” she explains. It’s a dissonance, but it inspired Okamoto to make art from what makes her different. “I was raised to celebrate that, and my mom would tell me to create art from that difference.” Okamoto became interested in activism work, particularly in 2014, after the murder of Michael Brown.

“I joined Don’t Shoot Portland and started creating art for them, almost anonymously,” she explains, “and I was able to create art for a lot of families who were impacted directly by police violence.” It taught Okamoto about how important art’s role is in personal healing, messaging, and memorialization. Much of her work was memorial portraits, which she says are made directly with the family of the loved one. It’s solemn, but Okamoto asked the families questions that connected to the core of who the memorialized individuals were. “The center of my work has always been with individuals.”

Like Okamoto tells me, part of art activism is connecting with others. Portraits, street art, and infographics—they all play a role in inspiring and informing people. “People don’t realize the importance of art and design in mobilizing people,” Okamoto says. Tisdale agrees. It’s a reminder of all the infographics we see on platforms like Instagram.

Both Tisdale and Okamoto talk about social media as an important tool. If you’re a part of their incredible followings, you’ll notice that whether they are doing professional makeup looks with popular brands or using their art to tell their story of friendship and collaboration, social media is the best way to showcase it.

And it became especially important for their activism this past summer, at the height of Black Lives Matter protests across the country. “I founded this community arts organization called Irresistible,” Okamoto says, “with a tagline that was ‘creating art for social change.’” It involved a team of collaborators who worked together to produce art and connect to artists for the movement. “We created almost 100 infographics and “IT’S BEEN REALLY INTERESTING posters and logos,” she begins, “and we were basically this miniature reTO THINK ABOUT HOW WE CREATE granting program. Irresistible would go to Black Lives Matter organizations, or social justice organizations,

ART ETHICALLY AND WHAT and ask what they needed.” And then the team would pay young BIPOC art-

IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO ists to create art. It was an interdisciplinary community—everything from design to BROADEN THE UNDERSTANDING painting and music were a part of the process. Tisdale coordinated

OF WHAT ART CAN DO FOR makeup. “We started reaching to anyone around the world who wanted to

SOCIAL JUSTICE.” be involved in this,” she says. “And for makeup, it wasn’t traditional. We turned the practice into activism.” She reached out to a variety of makeup artists who got involved with creating looks for protests and activism. And the emphasis on hiring BIPOC artists was incredibly important. As Tisdale says, “having the connection and discussion with those artists, who aren’t receiving recognition in the industry, was really important.” Irresistible received significant attention for its work. But Okamoto says the organization is in a transitional phase right now, as the conversations about Black Lives Matter shift from where they were during the summer. This doesn’t mean Irresistible isn’t still dedicated to providing a space and voice for BIPOC artists. That remains. As does Okamoto and Tisdale’s commitment to the practice and art activism. In the words of Okamato, “It’s been really interesting to think about how we create art ethically and what is our responsibility to broaden the understanding of what art can do for social justice.”

“I try to ease my residents’ fears and help find outlets to constructively form friendships while keeping their health and safety at the core of it all.”

JACK CLOHISY ’23

COMPUTER SCIENCE AND COGNITIVE BRAIN SCIENCE MAJOR FROM WEST NEWBURY, MA

I sit down with Jack Clohisy ’23 over Zoom at 8:30 p.m. on a Thursday night and apologize for meeting at such a late time, but he quickly reassures me that he is familiar with these late night calls through reporting for The Tufts Daily. He then pointed to a shared connection we have—Chris Panella ’21—who is a colleague of mine in the Student Communications Group and a major source of mentorship for Jack as both a writer for The Tufts Daily and an undergraduate resident assistant (RA). Eased by our instant familiarity with one another, we begin talking about everything from life as a college student during the COVID-19 pandemic, to declaring a major, and passing down words of wisdom to incoming students.

Jack is an RA in Miller Hall, a first-year residence hall. He recalls his initial purpose in wanting to take on this crucial role: “I wanted to become an RA [to] help with the first-year experience on campus.” As Jack planned his year as an RA, he learned about ways to creatively offer means of connection. “I try to ease my residents’ fears and help find outlets to constructively form friendships while keeping their health and safety at the core of it all,” he explains.

As an example of these efforts, he recounts an interaction that had just happened a day prior: “Yesterday, I had two residents on my floor—one of them is writing for The Tufts Daily and the other is majoring in computer science. I had the opportunity of standing with them for about half an hour just talking about what that’s like and how they’re going to enjoy what’s ahead.” Whereas there were limitations with in-person interactions and office hours during Spring 2020, he reassured them that when campus reopens fully, there will be exciting opportunities.“I try to keep the excitement and ambition going,” Jack says.

Jack learned to keep this spirit alive through working with The Tufts Daily, the main mechanism stemming back to our mutual connection with Chris. “In terms of The Tufts Daily, I had never written for the publication until the beginning of last academic year; but Chris has written for them for years and often details to me how fun and exciting it is. I echo those thoughts down to my residents.” While at this point it was clear to me that Jack is a person of many interests, my presumption is further amplified after hearing about his academic studies.

“I am majoring in computer science through the School of Engineering and double majoring in Arts and Sciences in cognitive and brain science (CBS),” Jack quickly follows-up with, “It’s been a journey that I’ve really appreciated.” After taking AP Psychology in high school, he became interested in clinical psychology and noticed that Tufts was the only school on his college list that offered it as a major. However, after his first year in the program, he came across the CBS major, which combines psychology, computer science, and philosophy. Having never taken a computer science course or ever coded in his life, Jack was nervous about taking CS 11, an introductory-level computer science course. As it turns out, however, Jack reveals: “I loved CS 11—I had never coded before and was dreading it, but I fell in love with it. My professors— Megan Monroe and Richard Townsend—were the absolute best professors that anyone could have in an intro course. They were so energetic, animated, and enthusiastic about the subject that it made me want to do more.” Ignited by a new passion for computer science, Jack ultimately decided on the double major.

By the end of our conversation, it is clear that mentorship has been a source of direction that has allowed Jack to navigate his plentiful interests throughout his time at Tufts. From declaring his majors, to becoming a first-year RA, to writing for The Tufts Daily, drawing from advice and inspiration from community members has been irreplaceable. Mentorship has always been critical in the college experience at Tufts, but it is one that students and supportive figures like Jack will only continue to grow and spread on campus this upcoming year. —SIWAAR ABOUHALA ’23