Jumbo Magazine - Spring 2016 by TuftsAdmissions

THE TUFTS ADMI ADMISSIONS MIS MI SS S IIO SIO O ONS MAGAZINE

IT’S COOL TO BE SMART THESE THREE JUMBOS PROVE IT

DEAL-BREAKERS

IN CHOOSING THE RIGHT COLLEGE FOR YOU

TUFTS ATHLETES ON AND OFF THE FIELD

EARTHQUAKES

HOW THIS CIVIL ENGINEERING RESEARCH COULD SAVE LIVES

MUSIC

FOR TENORS, TECHIES, AND THE TONE-DEAF

ISSUE 14 SPRING 2016

JUMBO 14

24 SENIOR THESES HOW TUFTS SENIORS are

contributing to the ongoing academic conversation.

32 A MEANINGFUL YEAR OF SERVICE WHY YOU SHOULD CONSIDER

PHOTO BY ALONSO NICHOLS/TUFTS UNIVERSITY

the 1+4 Bridge-Year Service Learning Program.

ON THE COVER At Tufts, it’s cool to be smart. ON THE COVER See pages 6, 22, and 28 to meet Margaret Feltz ’16, IMOGEN BROWDER ‘16 answer Shana Gallagher ’17, and your pressing questions lorem Miles Fossett ’16… you’ll see ipsum etc more text coming from what we mean.

Mere.

COVER PHOTOS BY KATHLEEN DOOHER (FRONT), ALONSO NICHOLS/TUFTS UNIVERSITY (BACK) VISIT US AT ADMISSIONS.TUFTS.EDU.

GREETINGS

FROM THE DEAN I was offering the admissions information session a few years ago when I said, “At Tufts it’s cool to be smart.” It just popped out of my mouth—it wasn’t an intentional turn of phrase—but I’d unwittingly coined a catch phrase that summarized our vibe in 24 characters. (And I didn’t need a hashtag.) To me, this phrase perfectly identiﬁes the intellectual atmosphere on campus. Tufts is a place where intellectual curiosity and an engagement with ideas are legitimate social currencies. And that vibe feels important to note, especially since intellectual curiosity can be an under-valued quality in many teenage social circles. “Smart” and “cool” are not always synonyms, but I think a playful intellect is a delicious combination. Jumbos across the array of majors we offer respond to interesting thoughts, new perspectives, and “what if…” scenarios with palpable energy. They play with ideas, think outside the box, see connections and welcome the “gray zone” as a way of being. Tufts is a place where ideas and creativity are valued and celebrated as much as a grade. “That’s so interesting…” is a refrain I’ve heard many times as a conversation veers into unexpected terrain. Students here are smart—but you’d expect that at a place like this—but smart doesn’t always mean interesting. At Tufts, it does. Jumbos play with what they are learning, usually in a low-keyed, collaborative way. Grades are important—it’s the way academic “success” is documented on most college campuses—but the grade in and of itself is not the goal. Curiosity is something to be celebrated. Ideas matter. Having fun while you study is refreshing. Sol Gittleman, Tufts’ former provost and a long-time professor of German, often advises students to “major in passion because it’s likely your job hasn’t been invented yet.” He’s right. (Sol is usually right.) He adds: “Knowledge grows, and our job is to light a Bunsen burner under your intellect.” At Tufts, people will challenge you; they will argue about ideas; they’ll wonder how they can harness their intellect to effect change in the world around us. If you join us, your peers won’t be as interested in knowing “what’s on the test” as they are compelled to learn about the why and how of the topic. Do you want to have a conversation with a person like that? I do. With this theme in mind, I introduce you to this issue of JUMBO Magazine. In the pages that follow, we’ll celebrate just a few members of the Tufts community that embody this phrase of ours. I think you will ﬁnd that they are engaged, active, curious, intellectual, and—you guessed it—utterly cool.

MEET THE STUDENT COMMUNICATION GROUP Most of what you’re about to read was written by these Tufts students. Keep an eye out for their voices as they introduce you to the Tufts community.

THE TUFTS ADMISSIONS MAGAZINE

KRISKA DESIR ’19 from Orange, NJ

CAMERON HARRIS ’18 from Shelburne, VT

CHARLOTTE GILLILAND ’16 from Birmingham, AL

BENYA KRAUS ’18 from Bangkok, Thailand HANNAH STEINBERG ’17 from Scarsdale, NY

DYLAN HONG ’19 from Phoenix, AZ

OFFICE OF UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS Tufts University / Bendetson Hall 2 The Green / Medford, MA 02155 617 627.3170 / admissions.tufts.edu / jumboeditor@tufts.edu

Produced by the Ofﬁce of Undergraduate Admissions and Edited by Meredith Reynolds, Assistant Director of Admissions Design by Hecht/Horton Partners

PHOTO BY ALONSO NICHOLS/TUFTS UNIVERSITY

Lee Cofﬁn Dean of Admissions and Enrollment Management

MAP THINGS THAT MATTER Tucked in the back of the Map Room in Tisch Library (yes that’s a place, and it’s amazing) is a haven for visual learners. Called the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Center, or “Data Lab,” the space is equipped with hardware and software for students to display spatial data—i.e. create maps that display data in an accessible, understandable way. Let’s give you an example.

REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GASES BY 2050

First, Caroline created two maps. The ﬁrst analyzed building roof areas: dark purple displayed the largest roof areas while light purple marked the smallest. The second map evaluated buildings by maximum sun exposure, based on elevation of the roof: dark red for maximum sun exposure, yellow for minimum exposure.

multiplied with

Environmental studies major Caroline Higley ’15 knew that our neighboring town of Cambridge had a goal of 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Solar energy seems the likely solution, right? So Caroline designed a GIS project to create a map of the city to visually display its best options for solar energy system locations. Essentially, she answered the question: On which roofs should we be installing solar panel systems in order to get the most bang for our buck?

SURFACE AREA OF ROOFS

SPECIFIC BUILDINGS IN CAMBRIDGE THAT COULD PRODUCE...

ANNUAL SUN EXPOSURE

400

MILLION KILOWATT HOURS OF ENERGY POTENTIAL PER YEAR

To determine the total amount of watt hours each building in Cambridge receives annually, she combined the data from both maps by multiplying the surface area of the roof plots by the solar radiation watt hours per square meter (sun exposure).

Ultimately, Caroline’s recommendations also took into account how much authority the city has over each building—putting solar panels on an urban public or institutional building is far easier than installing on one that is privately owned. She identiﬁed the three best buildings for the task, which together would sum to over 400 million kilowatt hours of energy potential per year.

INS & OUTS

SNAPSHOTS FROM THE HILL

CAN MONEY BUY HAPPINESS? THIS SEMESTER, Associate Professor of Economics David

Garman’s introductory econometrics class worked on a project using data from the General Social Survey, a nationwide survey used to gather information on the lives of Americans. Students built empirical, data-driven models to answer the question: “Can money buy happiness?” By controlling variables such as income and relationship status, students drew preliminary conclusions to see what plays the biggest role in an individual’s happiness. They concluded that true happiness most likely has little correlation with money.

@MONACOANTHONY OANTHONY TWEETS TUFTS PRESIDENT TONY MONACO is part president, part chef. Here’s our favorite tweet from

last spring. Looking forward to serving at the Study Break Pancake Breakfast this evening in the Mayer Campus Center 9–11pm!

A DIFFERENT KIND OF ANIMAL HOUSE THIS PAST SUMMER, undergraduate researchers funded by the Tufts Institute for Innovation

commuted to Tufts’ Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in Grafton, MA to develop a simple and portable test for tuberculosis. Students developed the preliminary test in Pearson Chemistry Laboratory on the Medford campus and completed it in Grafton using antibodies and enzymes from camels.

EXCOLLEGE CLASS HIGHLIGHT: THE CRISIS GAME: PUBLIC SAFETY, NATIONAL SECURITY, AND ACCURACY IN JOURNALISM THE EXPERIMENTAL COLLEGE is one of the best places for stu-

dents at Tufts to ﬁnd unique, innovative classes. This semester, students are taking classes like American Superheroes: Power, Politics, and Morality; Music for Social Change; and Medical Spanish. But our favorite class this semester is taught by Nanda Chitre ’85, who has served in the Clinton and Obama Administrations as an on-the-record spokesperson. Her class focuses on crisis management through government press and what constitutes good journalism.

KIDS’ DAY

SO(C) YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE

EACH YEAR, Tufts’ community service group—the Leonard

WHAT DO the World of Dance competition and Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” music video have in

Carmichael Society—invites over 200 local elementary school students to campus for a day of fun and games. Tufts students volunteer to paint faces, run science experiments, perform children’s theater, and more!

common? Spirit of Color (SOC). Tufts’ biggest hip-hop and contemporary dance group competed in a worldwide dance competition in Boston this November. To be selected to perform, SOC ﬁlmed and submitted a remake of Justin Bieber’s music video. It has since been viewed over 80,000 times.

JUMBO CHEF: WAFFLE CAKE INGREDIENTS

Wafﬂe batter, toppings from the sundae bar, and Nutella! DIRECTIONS

DIP, DIVE, DUCK, AND… THINK DODGEBALL is

PUTTING THE “A” IN ATHLETE SINCE 2010, Tufts has won eleven team and individual national titles. Aside from being killer athletes on the ﬁeld, our Jumbos

are also stars in the classroom. For the fall season, 77 athletes earned NESCAC All-Academic team membership. Our athletes are Arts and Sciences students and engineers; they are English majors and scientists pursuing medicine; they are thespians and programmers. The football team, which went 6–2 this season, has more than ten engineers, and twelve members on the Academic All-NESCAC Team.

limited to elementary school PE class? Think again! Alpha Omicron Pi, one of four sororities at Tufts, hosts an annual campus wide dodgeball tournament to raise money to send a child to Camp DartmouthHitchcock, a camp speciﬁcally for children with Juvenile Arthritis. Sixteen Tufts teams battled it out to win a free trip to Sky Zone Trampoline Park.

Pour batter into waffle maker and wait until waffles are golden brown and crispy. Assemble the three-layer cake with a layer of Nutella between each waffle. Cover top and sides with a layer of Nutella and you are ready to celebrate any birthday or bond with your new hallmates over this delicious treat!

Margaret Feltz is one of the millions of Fitbit users around the world, but unlike the average user, Margaret knows the code behind the ﬁtness technology. Margaret, a computer science major in the School of Engineering, completed an internship with the company this summer. “It was amazing. I loved the experience, the people, and the product itself,” she said. “At Fitbit, I found a young and entrepreneurial culture as well as a strong mentor relationship.” Margaret focused on the front end of the product at Fitbit: the interface that separates the back end and the user. Focusing on the front end allowed Margaret to explore design and what it means to create a good user experience. Margaret also worked on an independent project that displays information and helps users interact with the product daily. Margaret consulted with designers and

engineers to create the project. “It strengthened my skill set after three short months, and I am excited to have some code in production,” she said. Margaret names two classes that have been especially formative in her time at Tufts: Web Programming and Web Engineering. “I consider myself a pretty creative person, so I’m interested in the front end. Those two classes pushed me and helped me ﬁgure out what area of computer programming I wanted to go into.” Music Apps on the iPad was another inﬂuential class for Margaret. The class was entirely devoted to learning about iOS development and allowed Margaret to work on her favorite hands-on project yet. Margaret and her team made a music-synthesizing app on the iPad which allows users to record and play over backing tracks to create digital compositions with any instrument. “It was cool to have a product that I could

take home and show to my family. It’s usually hard to share programming projects with other people, but this one had an outcome that you could play around with,” she said. Margaret is appreciative of the classes at Tufts that have developed her as a programmer, but she names her peers as her biggest resource at Tufts. “The women here [in the engineering school] are very driven. There are a lot of us here, and we’re a tight-knit community in the computer science department.” As a senior nearing the end of her time at Tufts, Margaret will look back fondly at the community she has built both inside and outside of computer science: “I applied early decision because I could see myself being happy here. I’ve never regretted it.” —KRISKA DESIR ’19

MARGARET FELTZ COMPUTER SCIENCE MAJOR IN THE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING FROM HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT

’16

PHOTO BY KATHLEEN DOOHER

Chasing a passion for coding everyday technology and a streamlined user interface, Margaret goes behind the scenes at Fitbit.

HOT ITEMS MEMO BOOK

LAPTOP PHOTO BY ALONSO NICHOLS/TUFTS UNIVERSITY; CARD IMAGES COURTESY OF CARDS AGAINST HUMANITY

I love being in an environment that inspires me when I least expect it. I keep a notebook on me at all times to keep track of all the little light bulbs that go off during the day. My notes become lines of poetry, characters in short stories, ideas for photography projects, or current events to look up. —Kriska Desir ’19

THE BACK OF MY LAPTOP So many Jumbos have unique sticker collections plastered onto their laptops—it gives you a brief glimpse into what they value and what they’ve experienced. Laptop backs have often sparked vibrant conversations in the middle of the dining hall, and I am always pumped to have someone ask me what my yellow stickers mean! (They’re from Amnesty International, in case you were wondering.) —Benya Kraus ’18

YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN ABOUT TUFTS THROUGH RANDOM ITEMS FOUND ALL OVER CAMPUS.

BIKE SHARE It’s pretty well known that Tufts is very hilly, and (for me) walking can get old pretty fast. Luckily I can rent a bike for days at a time through the library and return them to any bike share rack when I’m done. Getting up the hills without panting? Easy. —Hannah Steinberg ’17

CARDS AGAINSTT HUMANITY Late one night in West Hall, my roommates and I weren’t sure what to do with our evening. We knocked on our hallmates’ doors, and saw Cards Against Humanity on their bookshelf. Perfect, I thought. Soon we had almost our whole ﬂoor in my room, ﬁlling in the blank with their favorite card, making for a pretty hilarious Saturday night. —Charlotte Gilliland ’16

BUTTERNUT SQUASH PIE For the second year in a row, students have been able to get the world’s best butternut squash pie delivered anywhere on campus as part of a fundraiser for a children’s hospital. I wish this magazine had scratch-and-sniff so that you could understand how incredible this pie is… and they are going towards a great cause! —Hannah Steinberg ’17

THE TUFTS DAILY As the former Features Executive Editor, the Tufts Daily is my go-to for all things Tufts-related, whether it’s Senate elections, movie reviews, or student op-eds. The Daily tells me what I need to know, each day, without fail. And it’s not too bad with my morning coffee, either. —Charlotte Gilliland ’16

COOKIE MONSTER PAJAMAS Some nights I will get ready for bed and then think to myself that I should get some work done. If my friends are working in Tisch Library when that happens, I’ll walk over and study in my favorite pajamas. —Dylan Hong ’19

WMFO STICKERS You’ll see these stickers for WMFO, Tufts’ freeform radio station, in odd places all over campus and even in Davis Square. I trained with WMFO earlier this semester, and now I play my favorite songs of the week on Sunday nights on my very own radio show: Jet Fuel and Steel Beats. —Kriska Desir ’19

AROUND TOWN

BOSTON ON A (STUDENT) BUDGET With over 100 colleges and universities in the greater Boston area, nearly one third of the city’s population is college-aged. This has many benefits, but we’re focusing on one in particular: student discounts. Here are just a few of our favorite steals around the city, just for students.

Red Sox Tickets for fans, fair-weather or otherwise.

Tickets to a New England Revolution Game for soccer fans.

Admission to the Museum of Science on designated college nights.

$ FREE

FREE

Movies at Loews Downtown if you’re into Thursday movie nights.

Tickets to the JFK Library for history buffs.

Student Rush tickets at the American Repertory Theater, which just wrapped up 1984 and is gearing up for RoosevElvis in May

20 % OFF

Tickets to the Institute of Contemporary Art, which is currently showing an exhibition titled: “The Birthday Party.”

FREE

Tickets to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Trust us, even if you’re not into art you can appreciate this beautiful space.

Admission to the Museum of Fine Arts. Current exhibitions include “Megacities Asia,” “#techstyle,” and “When Cities Fall.”

Dinner at La Famiglia Giorgio’s in Boston’s North End, to help you with the Freshman 15 (just kidding… kind of).

10% off Ice Cream at J.P. Licks a quick walk away in Davis Square.

You can also ﬁnd discounts at the New England Aquarium, Boston Bruins games, Boston Duck Tours, the Skywalk Observatory, Boston’s Freedom Trail, Brooklyn Boulders and MetroRock climbing gyms, and yoga, Zumba, barre, spin, and boot camp classes galore.

Did you know that over 1,000 commodities come from pigs? Beyond pork products, pig farms are responsible for things like plasma, soup base, and even sheen on most printer paper. I learned this from Assistant Professor of Anthropology Alex Blanchette, who spent 27 months on an industrial pig farm as research for his upcoming book, Porkopolis: Standardized Life, American Animality, and the “Factory” Farm. As the first academic given access to such a farm without going undercover, Professor Blanchette learned what it means to industrialize the production of animals. The farm where Professor Blanchette conducted his research slaughters over 7 million pigs annually within a 100-mile radius. The corporation controls genetic facilities, breeding centers, and over 1,000 growing barns in addition to a slaughter house. Professor Blanchette conducted over 100 interviews with workers, managers, and entrepreneurs working on new products, like biodiesel from pig fat. He shadowed managers, lived in a homeless shelter, and worked with government planners to organize a language festival for new migrant refugees. Originally, Professor Blanchette thought he’d be conducting a simple labor study, but relationships with workers gave him a new perspective. “I’d always assumed that workers were very alienated from pigs,” he said. “I was struck by how dedicated individual workers were to [the] animals.” He also quickly saw how different the process looked for those working in different areas of the farm, from genetics or artificial insemination to the slaughter house, and everything in between. His goals for his research shifted. Most pieces about factory farms are exposés; Professor Blanchette’s upcoming book aims instead to start a conversation. He introduces voices and perspectives of actual workers, producing comprehensive images of factory farms to allow us to imagine alternatives and begin a dialogue surrounding regulations and workers’ rights. Professor Blanchette says majoring in anthropology makes students interrogate broad philosophical questions. “I’m always looking for ways to involve students in actual research so they can... [have] a stake in the production of knowledge,”he said. Anthropology provides a well-rounded, balanced liberal arts education as well as training for field work and research within communities. Professor Blanchette chose the factory farm community... what would you choose? —DYLAN HONG ’19

PHOTO BY ALONSO NICHOLS/TUFTS UNIVERSITY

Professor Blanchette spent 27 months on an industrial pig farm. Find out why.

ALEX BLANCHETTE ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ANTHROPOLOGY 9

CLASS HIGHLIGHT

GENDER ISSUES IN WORLD POLITICS Right now in my Gender Issues in World Politics class, we’re reading a book, War and Gender by Joshua Goldstein, which gives centuries of evidence to describe the fact that while societies across the world and over time have had varying types of gender roles, the one place in which a male-female binary is consistently constructed is the military. Goldstein looks at this gender difference from biological, anthropological, sociological and political stand-

and self-directed. We think not only about how societies are impacted by gender, but also how we individually are impacted by gender. A discussion of Goldstein’s book about gender in the military may spiral into a conversation about gender differences in attitudes toward war and national security. This can snowball into a class debate on cross-cultural uniformity of gender differences... or lack thereof. Professor Eichenberg asks us questions

“Finally, a classroom I enter and never leave.” points, posing questions such as: “Are men inherently more aggressive than women?” and “Why are the socialization of boys and girls different?”From there, we ask our own questions—questions that stem from more than twenty years of our own living, of our own discovering of our place in a patriarchal society. As a woman, what power is truly mine? Can we ever truly achieve gender equality in a capitalist society that values productive power over reproductive power? These questions are posed every Monday and Wednesday within a circle of fifteen students. Every week, we are assigned reading and asked to post our comments onto a class forum page. We are also responsible for finding a news article on gender issues from around the world and posting it—along with our comments—onto the forum. Each week the article we are searching for comes from a different country or region of the world. From there, Associate Professor of Political Science Richard Eichenberg spends his Sunday nights reading through our posts and putting together a class agenda based off of our voices and interests. He finds ways to thread connections between our readings and the articles that fascinate us. As a result, every class seems relevant

like: What are the political implications of gender differences? What theories explain universal, crosscultural gender differences? Are these gender differences in attitudes visible? Is there such a thing as a “global feminist movement?” We talk, and then go home to explore on our own, creating the building blocks for next week’s discussion. By guiding our own reading, we make this a class that is truly “ours.” Like many other college students, I have spent over thirteen years in school expecting syllabi, assessments, rubrics, and curricula that structure my learning. While structure is most often a necessary and positive asset, it can sometimes feel like it’s stripping my independence as a learner. That’s why Professor Eichenberg’s Gender Issues in World Politics course has been so inﬂuential and enjoyable to me. I always feel like I am in the pilot seat, directing my own learning. Through roundtable discussions I challenge and am challenged; I question and am questioned. Finally, a classroom I enter and never leave. —Benya Kraus ’18

TUFTS’

TOP 10

CLASSROOM ASSIGNMENTS

IN THE SPIRIT OF THIS ISSUE’S THEME, “IT’S COOL TO BE SMART,” WE’RE PROVING TO YOU THAT HOMEWORK CAN BE FUN. WE ASKED TUFTS STUDENTS ABOUT THE COOLEST PROJECTS THEY’VE EVER BEEN ASSIGNED—FROM ENGINEERING DESIGNS TO MUSIC COMPOSITIONS. HERE’S WHAT WE FOUND.

Entrepreneurial Leadership Studies

Computer Science

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND BUSINESS PLANNING

HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

“[To learn about the complexity of] creating business plans and ﬁnancial projections, our professor threw us into a shark tank. [We] split up into groups and pitched our business plans to mock investors from Tufts Gordon Institute.” —Suah Lee ’16

“Our professor told our class to design an app for the hypothetical Olympics in Boston. My group [designed] the interface of our own app, which was a locationbased compass. The interface could drop the user at any location, like an arena or speciﬁc stand at the Olympics.” —Isabella Kahhale ’17

English

International Relations

Engineering Psychology

Music

FILM NOIR AND THE AMERICAN TRADITION

INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN FACTORS AND ERGONOMICS

MUSIC THEORY

“Each week in Professor Edelman’s class, we [watched] film noirs that led to our final project, for which we made an interactive website with our thoughts on the films.” —Elise Lee ’17

“Professor Beckley encouraged us to go to war (ﬁguratively speaking, of course). [After] a lecture on game theory and ways that countries interact with one another, we had a simulation project. [We each] represented a country and had to create alliances and sign trade agreements.” —Emma Zafran ’17

“My class had to ﬁnd an everyday problem that we wanted to ﬁx. I chose the placement of buttons on a steering wheel, [which are hard for me to reach with my small hands]. During class, I worked on redesigning the wheel.” —Kyra Gardiner ’16

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Community Health

Education

Experimental College

ENGINEERING IN CRISES

SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF MEDICINE

SCHOOL AND SOCIETY

SOCIAL MARKETING

“In Professor Cohen’s class, we talked about the development of the U.S. education system. For our final project, we formed groups and had to design a school within a certain budget. Each group could put more resources into the programs that they cared the most about.” —Michael Kalmans ’17

“My instructor assigned students to work with local non-proﬁts. Our team was working with The Young People’s Project. We advised them on making their website and program more user-friendly and attractive to teenagers.” —Cecily Lo ’17

“We were given plaster and pipe cleaners to build an earthquake-proof house. Using shake boards, we saw which elements helped houses stand up to earthquake conditions.” —Daisy Draper ’18

“In pairs, our class took patient histories on each other. My partner took my vital signs and asked questions about the reason for my visit. After class, we had to conduct research on our partner’s symptoms and ﬁnd three likely diagnoses to present to the class.” —Zoe Lazarus ’17

“After studying music theory throughout the semester, Professor McLaughlin had us compose a simple song to practice chord progressions.” —Carl Haber ’16

BROWN, BLUE, & READ ALL OVER

PHOTO BY ALONSO NICHOLS/TUFTS UNIVERSITY

What’s the one thing at Tufts you can cover with grafﬁti—and suffer zero consequences? Tufts’ cannon, a relic nestled between Goddard Chapel and Ballou Hall, is the university’s ultimate billboard, painted almost nightly by student clubs and movements to advertise upcoming events, drive social change, or just give a special shout-out. Collecting paint since the 1970’s, the cannon has years of Tufts history under the surface. But there’s one catch: if you paint it, you’ve got to defend it. Whether it’s with Nerf guns, Silly String,

or pure intimidation, once the cannon is painted, expect to hold an overnight stakeout to protect your precious territory. So whether you want to promote Tufts Mountain Club’s upcoming hiking trip, announce a meeting at the Africana House, or show a little Jumbo love, the cannon’s all yours. Just make sure you have your stakeout equipment ready (hint: sleeping bags recommended).

ATHLETICS

CHECK ONE: STUDENT ATHL With eleven team and individual national titles under our belt since 2010, Jumbos are ranked ninth of more than 400 NCAA DIII schools. But our athletes are also engineers, bookworms, and thespians. They kick butt on the field and in the classroom, and score goals as well as internships. We can’t help but brag about our student athletes and what they’re able to accomplish while balancing intense practices and off-season training. Here, you’ll meet four Jumbo athletes… on and off the field.

JUSTIN ROBERTS ’16

Offensive Line for the Jumbos football team What are you most proud of on the ﬁeld? I’m proud of how my teammates handle adversity. We’re always ﬁghting and working to be the best. What do you do to prepare for a big game? I look at my senior class as we sit in the locker room. We have such a strong bond. I know we’re a team of individuals who will never quit. Describe the Tufts football team in two words: Tough, All-in

Architectural Studies major and Entrepreneurial Leadership Studies minor from Milton, MA What do you do off the football ﬁeld? I love to create, communicate, and learn. I have artwork all over the Tufts campus from the athletic weight room to the President’s house. I have worked at the toy company Hasbro and also for Tufts Facilities. What has been your favorite class at Tufts? Entrepreneurial Marketing Describe Tufts students in two words: Intelligent and genuine

LETE BOTH! ANIQUE BARCH ’18

Middle Hitter and Opposite Hitter on the women’s volleyball team, NESCAC All-Academic 2015 What do you do to prepare for a big game? I listen to pump-up music and picture myself doing everything I need to do in order to succeed. Describe the Tufts volleyball team in two words: Hardworking… and crazy.

Mechanical Engineering major from Long Valley, NJ What do you do off the volleyball court? I am in Chi Omega sorority and the African Dance Collective. In my free time, I love singing and playing the ukulele. What accomplishment gives you the most pride? I was recently awarded a scholarship through the Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) program, which allowed me to work at the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development, and Engineering Center (ARDEC).

PHOTOS BY KATHLEEN DOOHER

Describe Tufts students in two words: Passionate and open-minded.

ATHLETICS

AUDREY GOULD ’16

Co-Captain of the cross country team and distance runner and co-captain for the women’s track and field team, NESCAC All-Academic 2015, 2014 NESCAC Champion in outdoor track 5,000 meter event What athletic accomplishment are you most proud of? I am most proud of our cross country number 2 finish at the DIII New England Regionals. It was the highest finish in program history. Describe the cross country team in two words: Dedicated, supportive.

International Relations and Spanish double major from Pelham, MA What accomplishment are you most proud of outside of athletics? I am so proud to have spent a semester studying in Seville, Spain. I expanded not only my Spanish skills but also my cultural competency during those ﬁve months. What has been your favorite Tufts class? Health in the Spanish Speaking World Describe Tufts students in two words: Passionate, His/Herself

NATHAN MAJUMDER ’17

Forward on the men’s soccer team, 2014 National Champions, NESCAC All-Academic 2015 What are you most proud of on the ﬁeld? I don’t think anything will ever surpass winning the 2014 National Championship. Bringing back that trophy for our school [made me] indescribably proud. Describe the Tufts soccer team in two words: Handsome, Intelligent (… and modest)

Computer Science and Math double major from Williamstown, MA What do you do off the soccer ﬁeld? I play the trumpet for the Tufts Wind Ensemble and I volunteer with both Level the Field (in a local middle school) and Team Impact (an organization that pairs collegiate teams with children facing life-threatening and chronic illnesses). [I’ve also done] on-campus research with math and engineering professors [and completed] an internship at Draper Laboratory. What has been your favorite Tufts class? Machine Structure and Assembly Language Programming.

PHOTOS BY KATHLEEN DOOHER

Describe Tufts students in two words: Engaged, Supportive

SASHA FLEARY ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF CHILD STUDY AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Professor Fleary is working on designing a health literacy intervention program to be used in high schools around the country. I recently spoke with Assistant Professor of Child Study and Human Development Sasha Fleary and fell in love with my major all over again. Not only is she an incredible lecturer (I had the chance to hear her speak as a guest lecture in one of my classes), but I also learned that she has a clinical background in pediatric psychology and conducts extensive research on children’s wellbeing and preventive health. “My research focuses on preventive health and health disparities,” Professor Fleary told me. “The two critical periods that are very receptive to developing preventive behaviors are early childhood and adolescence. I’ve found that in these periods, individuals respond well to health habits around physical activity, nutrition, and sleep.” When Professor Fleary started delving deeper into her research, I found myself mentally mapping out my schedule for next semester to see if I had time to work in her lab. One of the unique beneﬁts of having the clinical background that Professor Fleary has is being able to do applied, interventiondriven research. Her latest project focuses on health literacy. The buzzword of health literacy, according to Professor Fleary, is access. “We are teaching people how to

access types of health information and how to use it,” she explained. “It is shocking that things like setting up a doctor’s appointment and being an active patient [aren’t] taught in schools.” “I am in the process of developing a health literacy intervention that I hope will be piloted in high schools,” she told me. “The goal is to have this added to the health curriculum so students will have speciﬁc health literacy training. It’s all about learning how to access and use this important information.” As I sat rapt in our conversation, I wondered what Professor Fleary loved most about teaching at Tufts. She said, “I think that my favorite thing so far is the inquisitiveness of students. I have had students who I have never met before who make appointments with me just so we can sit and talk about my classes and about the research that I am doing.” These students probably leave their meetings feeling just as I did when our interview ended— awestruck by the power that Professor Fleary’s research could have on the health and knowledge of students across the nation. —HANNAH STEINBERG ’17

PHOTO BY KATHLEEN DOOHER

LIVING

WILL I LIKE MY ROOMMATE? If there’s one thing about your freshman year of college that causes the most anxiety, it’s your roommate. Will you like them? Will they stay up too late playing heavy metal? Will they “borrow” your clothes and never give them back? Well here are ten Tufts roommate pairs who would like to tell you: “It’s all going to be OK.” You’ll likely get along with your roommate, and you may even become best friends—like these pairs did! So take a deep breath… this is going to be fun.

Jacob Siegelbaum and Aaron Idelson ’18 “We push each other out of our respective comfort zones. And I think that’s what roommates should do.”

Dylan Hong and John Venable ’19 “We bonded over getting as much food as possible for our room.”

Emily Sim and Amrutha Chintalapudi ’19 “For Halloween, we went as Netlix and chill.”

Kate Smart and Simone Sanders ’18 “We met during the ﬁrst few weeks of school [and] instantly became best friends.”

Matt Carlin and Mike Rogalski ’18 “Tufts baseball brought us together freshman year... and we’ve been best friends ever since!”

Danielle Feerst and Shannon Vavra ’16 “Every time I’m with Shannon I learn something new… she says something and it makes me think deeper about an issue.”

Donna Chen and Renee Chiu ’19 “She always has super funny stories to share. When neither of us can fall asleep, we tell each other stories and hers are always so entertaining.”

Suneeth Keerthy and Spencer Perry ’19 “We went to Boston today, we play basketball together, go on runs, work on programming… we hang out A LOT.”

Jaanvi Sant and Ria Mazumdar ’19 “We want to start watching Parks and Rec but haven’t had the time. One of us is either in lab or debate or studying… hopefully we can soon!”

Greg Warns and Jose Lopez ’17 “We’re both engineers and serious guitar players... and we’re both ridiculously smooth in social situations.”

ARTS HIGHLIGHT

MUSIC: FOR TENORS, TECHIES, AND THE TONE-DEAF

If you think about music in college you probably imagine tons of a cappella groups or classes in music theory or performance. While Tufts has all of that, we also have so much more. Look beyond the Gospel Choir, private jazz lessons, and a cappella groups like the Beelzebubs and the Jackson Jills… look beyond the pep band, choir, and orchestra… and you might be shocked by what you find. Tufts’ Department of Music offers so many classes—from World Music and History of Rock ’n’ Roll to Queer Pop and Music and Prayer in Jewish Tradition. These courses explore the social impacts of music with historical context in mind. But think further outside the box and you’ll find classes in the social and even natural sciences with some musical flair—classes like The Psychology of Music, Electronic Music Instrument Design, and Advanced Dynamics and Vibrations (our music engineering minors take that one… pretty cool right?) It is incredible to see how music at Tufts can be smart and innovative. Take the three Tufts students—Gabriel Jacobs, Amadou Crookes, and Mario Gomez-Hall—who used their computer science skills to create the app Cymbal. Cymbal acts like Instagram for music; users can share their favorite songs with all of their friends with the tap of an icon. Within months, Cymbal was downloaded tens of thousands of times and was valued at $6 million. Meanwhile, in the Department of Electrical Engineering, a group of engineers is working on emulating the natural feel of a piano to create more authentic digital sound. A combination of sensors and software allows the group to record a piano’s mechanical details and create digital notes. Scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs alike are dabbling in music on the Hill. Passion for music is universal. Abstract courses and amazing performing groups represent two ends of the spectrum of music involvement at Tufts. So whether you’re interested in using sensors and programming to create beautiful notes in the Electronic Music Ensemble or figuring out how music is perceived through music cognition, you’ll find the tools (dare we say instruments?) at Tufts.

50+ COURSES EACH SEMESTER

40% UNDERGRADUATE PARTICIPATION IN THE MUSIC DEPARTMENT EACH YEAR

24 PERFORMING ENSEMBLES

The student leader of Tufts Climate Action explains how we can understand climate change through a six-legged sea star.

community has been so formative for my Tufts experience. I can’t imagine my time at Tufts without it.” Shana is not only an advocate for climate justice issues, but has experience in marine biology research as well. Two summers ago, Shana did research on a species of sea star called the Leptasterias hexactis. The breeding habits of this particular species make it an indicator species - a species that reveals the environmental conditions of its habitat. Shana was part of a research team that studied populations of the curious six-legged creatures to gain better understanding of a marine life disease that has greatly affected sea life across the globe. The experience was very handson and informative for Shana: “It was a great experience in terms of trying to solve this problem using ﬁeld work and applying some of the concepts I’d learned.” Last summer, Shana did research at Ocean Conservancy, a marine policy advocacy group in Washington D.C. Her role was to inform politicians of the effects that marine conservation

issues have on their constituents. Shana focused on ocean acidification, the decrease in pH that occurs when the ocean absorbs the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Shana has another exciting research opportunity to look forward to. In her sophomore year, she earned the Hollings Scholarship, a prestigious and competitive honor given to only 150 scholars nationwide through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The scholarship includes an internship opportunity, the part of the scholarship that excites Shana the most. After her semester in Australia this spring, Shana will fly straight to Honolulu where she will work with Dr. Rusty Brainard, a NOAA scientist at the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center. “[I’m hoping] it will be the field work experience I’m looking for. It’s important to have that independent ownership of a research project.” —KRISKA DESIR ’19

SHANA GALLAGHER BIOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES DOUBLE MAJOR FROM PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA 22

’17

PHOTO BY KATHLEEN DOOHER

Activist, lobbyist, and double major in biology and environmental studies, Shana Gallagher ’17 exhibits the kind of passion that is typical of a Tufts student. Admittedly, interviewing Shana seemed daunting at ﬁrst, but I quickly learned she was warm and funny, with an infectious passion for marine conservation biology. Shana is a student leader of Tufts Climate Action and is a large proponent of an effort in the greater Boston community to bring attention to the urgency of climate justice issues. Tufts Climate Action is an advocate group for change on campus, and they are currently engaged in the fossil fuel divestment movement happening nationally. Shana stresses that climate justice is an effort that anyone can learn about and join: “If you care about breathing, you care about the ocean,” Shana said. (In fact, marine plants produce 70% of the earth’s oxygen.) Shana is grateful for the role that student activism has played in her Tufts experience: “My activist involvement at Tufts and in the Boston

ILLUSTRATION BY ELLEN WEINSTEIN

THE THESIS: TUFTS SENIORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACADEMIC CONVERSATION By Benya Kraus ’18

“[COMPLETING A SENIOR THESIS] IS ABOUT ENTERING AN ONGOING CONVERSATION… IT’S ABOUT YOUR TURN TO PRODUCE A LITTLE BIT OF KNOWLEDGE INSTEAD OF JUST TAKING IT IN.”

ILLUSTRATION BY ELLEN WEINSTEIN

FTER A YEAR AND A HALF AT TUFTS, I THOUGHT I HAD FINALLY gotten over my wide-eyed awe upon learning about what my peers are thinking, doing, and accomplishing. But after speaking with four Tufts seniors currently working on their senior theses, I was once again amazed by the creativity and caliber of knowledge being created here at Tufts. Take biochemistry major Liang (Martin) Ma, for example. For his senior thesis, Martin is examining the molecular biology of Alzheimer’s disease. “The brain fascinates me,” Martin explained as he described the process of how Alzheimer’s disease develops. Martin explained that the accumulation of oligopeptide amyloid-ȕ protein (AKA the “Bad Protein”) is the cause of Alzheimer’s, and that an enzyme known as BACE1 is the only protein responsible for the production of this “Bad Protein.” Building upon this understanding, Martin is exploring the potential for another protein, known as GGA3, to inversely modulate the levels of BACE1. Long story short: if Martin’s hypothesis is proven true, then this protein he found could be used as a new therapeutic target to treat Alzheimer’s! Humbly put, Martin confessed, “I feel like I’m getting to the frontier of modern day science.” Another senior thesis candidate, Melissa Feito, is also exploring the frontiers of science, but through the lens of science fiction. An English major with a minor in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Melissa has combined her love for science fiction with her passion for feminism and gender theory. The result is a senior thesis that examines reproduction power and gender in 20th century Anglophone science fiction novels and short stories. Her work investigates how the childbearing body is sometimes empowered or disempowered depending on the civilization or society in which it takes place. In science fiction texts, she explained to me, the childbearing bodies are not always women, but sometimes aliens or those that do not fit into traditional gender identities. “Good science fiction is a thought experiment,” Melissa explained. “It is always based in reality, using fantastical but plausible scenarios.” Her research explores how the reoccurring themes in science fiction are rooted in semantic capitalism, which she described as “how systems of power, especially economic power, control us through our bodies.” These structures exist beyond the realm of science fiction in our own modern day societies, which is one of the reasons science fiction excites Melissa so much. “Science fiction uses science and technology to explore these polemic issues in our society,” she explained. The connections between literature and civilizations also appear in history major Aniket De’s senior thesis, but his work is centered on the folklore tradition on the India-Bangladesh border and its relationship with the region’s changing political climate. Aniket has been passionate about folklore literature and anthropology ever since he worked with Professor of Religion Brian Hatcher during the summer of his sophomore year through the Tufts Summer Scholars program. From there, Aniket spent his junior year studying abroad in the UK sifting through stacks of Indian colonial documents in Oxford’s libraries. The summer of his junior year led him to do field research in India, where he took advantage of all the literature and documents available in India’s extensive archives. “A historian’s happiest days are in the archives,” Aniket told me, grinning. Now back at Tufts and under the mentorship of Professor of History Ayesha Jalal as his thesis advisor, Aniket is taking a diachronic look at these documents and tracking the changes in cultural rituals and their relationship to changes in political structure. According to Aniket, “history is a story and the historian’s job is to be the storyteller.”

Chemistry major Alexandra Brumberg is uncovering a story of her own—the story of ice. For her senior thesis, Alexandra is growing her own single crystal ice with the intention of characterizing its growth. “Water and ice are everywhere on our planet,” Alexandra said, “so in order to study how things interact with water and ice, you need to have a very simplified system.” The ice Alexandra is creating is not your typical ice cube; the molecules in a typical ice cube are arranged all over the place, which makes for random test results. Alexandra is growing completely transparent ice with molecules organized in the same direction; it is simplified so her results are more meaningful. It’s extremely difficult to grow the kind of ice Alexandra is growing, and the process of examination is also very meticulous. In fact, Alexandra is currently in the process of building her own special type of microscope to measure the height of the steppe edged alignment of atoms she discovered on the surface of her ice. “These steppe edges,” Alexandra explained, “are more reactive than a regular surface. If you want to actually understand what’s happening in nature, it’s more useful to have a surface with steppe edges on it.” Alexandra’s ice discoveries provide valuable knowledge into the nature of hydrogen bonding, laying the groundwork for other scientists to build their own discoveries. Needless to say, as a second year student who hasn’t even begun thinking about my own senior thesis or even an exact career path, I was a little intimidated by these brilliant projects. So, in an attempt to make myself feel better, I asked them what they were like their first year at Tufts and how they got to this point. Often, it was one class or professor that got the ball rolling. Aniket, who came into his first year set on becoming an archaeology major, points to Professor Sarah Pinto’s Sexuality and Gender in South Asia class and Professor Ayesha Jalal’s introductory class, Modern South Asia. “In those moments, I knew right away what I wanted to do,” he said. He also noted the accessibility to Tufts professors, saying that Professor Brian Hatcher, with whom he began his senior thesis work, “has been my single most important mentor.” Alexandra credits Professor Mary Jane Shultz for the work she is able to do today. “[Professor Shultz] is one of the few women in the field of physical chemistry, and she has become so well respected,” she said. Alexandra met Professor Shultz through her first-year Physical Chemistry lab. After that class, Alexandra was invited to join Professor Shultz’s research group—an opportunity that, according to Alexandra, served as “an affirmation that it was what I wanted to do with the rest of my career.” It is an excitement for both personal discovery and discovery of knowledge that serves as the common thread between all the senior thesis candidates with whom I spoke. Just by sitting across from him, I could feel Martin’s excitement radiating as he described how beautiful it was to zoom in and out of a neuron. And on a (much) grander level, he’s motivated by the real potential to cure one of the most serious human diseases. “If I can… do something to help, it makes every single day in the lab, every single experiment, meaningful,” Martin said. Although the fields of their theses differ, Aniket, Martin, Melissa, and Alexandra all embody a similar curiosity to search—a curiosity that I have found to be wired in our Tufts DNA. No matter your passion, pursuing a senior thesis at Tufts gives you “the opportunity to geek out,” as Melissa put it. She told me: “You may feel like you need to be ‘qualified’ to write a senior thesis, but it’s not about being qualified. It’s about entering an ongoing conversation and attaching yourself to these ongoing tangents— it’s about your turn to produce a little bit of knowledge instead of just taking it in.”

Miles had a specific idea for his major, so he built his own! It’s called: Effects of Media and Pop Culture in Identity Formation.

MILES FOSSETT INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES MAJOR FROM LOS ANGELES, CA 28

’16

PHOTO BY KATHLEEN DOOHER

Miles Fossett confuses me. He somehow has the time to create and complete his own major, teach a class through the Experimental College on race and media, write a senior honors thesis, intern for the global brand experience agency Jack Morton Worldwide, and still have time to be one of the happiest people that I know on this campus. Miles took advantage of The Center for Interdisciplinary Studies at Tufts, which allows students to combine classes in different departments to form their own major. His major is ofﬁcially called: Effects of Media and Pop Culture in Identity Formation. It is comprised of classes from the Departments of Sociology, Child Study and Human Development, Music, and Film & Media Studies. “I came to Tufts excited about the diversity of classes that I could take, but I had no clue what I wanted to study,” said Miles. “I took a class called

Children and Mass Media. I was having a conversation with Professor Dobrow on race and media and she kept pushing me to think about my beliefs and how I could take them one step further. She introduced me to the Interdisciplinary Studies program and encouraged me to create my own major.” Miles’ major allows him to take such a range of classes: Race and America, History of African American Music, Media Literacy, Media and Culture, and more. Meanwhile, he’s writing a thesis titled: Race and Identity Formation: A Relationship Between Media and Black Men. When he started explaining his thesis to me, he instantly lit up. “I’m looking at questions like: Where do people ﬁt in society? Where do black lives ﬁt in? How does your identity get shaped by the media?” Miles also found the time to co-teach a class last fall called Race and Media in American Culture

with one of his friends. “The class was very discussion-based and we had a lot of debates. One of my favorite debates was on [the question]: Which is more important—diversity in front of the camera or diversity behind the camera?” The purpose of the class is to get students thinking about the intersection between race and media, he explained. Miles has clearly made the most out of his four years here, so I was curious as to what he would miss the most when he leaves. “The people. The best thing about Tufts is that it allows you to be passionate about something and follow it through,” he said. Well, I thought—he’s the proof. —HANNAH STEINBERG ’17

VOXJUMBO JIM GLASER

DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES AND PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE Tufts is very close to Dean Glaser’s heart. Not only is he making Jumbo decisions as the Dean of Arts and Sciences and impacting individuals in the classroom as a professor of political science, he’s also a Jumbo parent—both of his children are part of the Tufts family. Here, he offers his answers to the Tufts supplemental questions so you can get to know him, Tufts, and our application all at the same time!

INTRODUCING THE TUFTS COMMUNITY THROUGH OUR SUPPLEMENT … ONE PERSON AT A TIME.

Why Tufts? (50–100 words) As a student, I would be eager to be part of the vibrant, diverse student body at Tufts. Social scientists have found that we spend our lives with people like ourselves. We gravitate toward people who share our perspectives, values, and beliefs. Tufts provides an opportunity to be part of a heterogeneous community of very talented people and I know that I would have the opportunity to learn from my peers, particularly those who are not like me. Of course, I would also expect to learn from the ﬁrst-class faculty. I hear that the political science department is particularly strong.

There is a Quaker saying: “Let your life speak.” Describe the environment in which you were raised—your family, home, neighborhood, or community—and how it influenced the person you are today. (200–250 words) I grew up with great admiration for my father. He was a great man who started from very little and, through the G.I. Bill and his own blood, sweat, and tears, made a success of himself. He was a gentle and humble person who accomplished a lot in his career, lived for his family, and was admired by those who knew him. An entrepreneur in the furniture design business, he had a creative career that involved taking some big risks. He also was a strong leader without being egotistical or vexatious to the spirit (someone once described him as leading with a “velvet glove”). After he retired from his business, he joined the faculty at Washington University in St. Louis and taught entrepreneurship to business students. I always wanted to be like him; though, like him, I wanted to succeed with my own talents, by my own hard work, and on the basis of my own accomplishments. My father inspired me to pursue a meritocratic career, one that would involve discovery of new knowledge, require creative processes, and value communicating ideas to others. I also have aspired, like him, to teach, mentor, and encourage young people. What better job could there be than that? And he inspired me to pursue leadership opportunities (though I tend to be more immersed in politics than he had the taste for). He has been gone for ten years, but his memory continues to guide me in my own life.

Of six options, Dean Glaser chose the following for the final supplemental question: B) What makes you happy? (200–250 words)* I am a list-maker, so here’s a David Letterman style “Top Ten list.” 10) Cooling down after a long run on a warm summer evening. Sitting on the front steps with sweat pouring off my body and my dog by my side. 9) Helping a student ﬁnd an opportunity, reach a milestone, or succeed at something that they had not imagined doing. 8) Standing in a place where history has been made. I have so relished visits to Gettysburg, the Normandy beaches, Ford’s Theatre, Hiroshima, the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, Pompeii, the city walls of Derry, Northern Ireland, the Imperial Crypt in Vienna. You get the idea. 7) Working hard and accomplishing something. Raking leaves; shoveling snow; publishing an article; checking a task off my To Do List. 6) Laughing. Hard. I enjoy a good story well told (ah, “The Moth”) and evoking a laugh when I can. 5) Playing tennis, softball, or fantasy baseball with friends. Winning is nice, but not necessary. 4) Savoring an engrossing book (while not personally adventurous, I like reading adventure), a complex piece of music (Rachmaninoff, Steely Dan), or a novelistic television series (The Sopranos—twice). 3) Spending a quiet evening at home with my wife Pam.

PHOTO BY KATHLEEN DOOHER

2) Belonging to something bigger than myself. Being part of the recent success of Tufts has been enormously satisfying. 1) Being a parent. I have loved the experience of raising my children. Every age and phase has had its joys. And the results have given me great pleasure.

*To see the other options for the third supplemental question, visit admissions.tufts.edu/apply/essay-questions 31

A STEP OFF THE BEATEN PATH

TUFTS 1+4 IN ACTION BY CHARLOTTE GILLILAND ’16

GAP YEARS

—the term floated around my high school, but very few students committed to taking time to work, travel, or volunteer before college. Most of my friends worked for a summer, spent time with friends they wouldn’t see for a while, and then said goodbye before their first-year orientation. When I finally finished the stressful college application process, I didn’t even realize I could think about taking a gap year. And I still wonder about how taking a year before college to do something different might have impacted me. So when Tufts launched the innovative 1+4 Program through the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service—a bridge-year service learning program that allows accepted students to complete a full year of volunteer work before beginning their academic studies at Tufts—I’ll be honest: I was a little jealous. I recently spoke with Justin Mejia, a 1+4 Fellow serving in Spain, and my jealousy grew. Four days a week, Justin works in a small hogar—similar to an American foster home—in Madrid with four teenage boys. He works with the boys from 1 to 10 pm as a mentor, friend, and teacher. It’s his first time in Europe, and he says his favorite moment was “the look in… [the boys’] eyes” when he brought out his American football. Justin is just one of the first fifteen Fellows on the ground for 1+4. Students work and live in Nicaragua, Brazil, and Spain (next year, domestic options through City Year will also be available), mentoring teens, volunteering in environmental programs, and engaging in community outreach. Fellows are paired with a partner bridge-year organization in each country and a non-profit organization with which to work.

Tufts is one of two schools that now offers its own gap year program for first year students, and the gap year trend is certainly growing throughout the nation. According to an article in The New York Times last January, enrollment in gap year programs grew 27 percent from 2012 to 2013. One study at Middlebury College has found that students who took gap years had consistently higher GPAs than students who did not, and according to the American Gap Association, 88 percent of gap year graduates reported that their year outside of school contributed significantly to their employability. But 1+4 Fellows agree that the real appeal is a transformational year they may never be able to have again. “It’s safe to say [this is] a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Justin told me from Madrid. Justin has always wanted to experience the world, and saw the opportunity to take a bridge year as the first step. “When I heard about this program [at a Tufts open house], I [walked straight] up to [the Dean of the Tisch College] Alan Solomont, shook his hand, and said, ‘I really want to go to Spain next year.’” Justin applied for 1+4 in Madrid because of its particular focus on child development and education. And while some students might be ready to go straight to college, Justin felt comfortable with taking some time before beginning his first year. “I’m not in a rush to accelerate my life,” he said. Justin wasn’t the only advocate for allowing yourself to breathe after high school—Eve Harris, a current Fellow serving in Brazil, saw taking a bridge year as an opportunity to learn about herself, as well as the world around her. “[I] really saw the value in taking a little bit of time to step back and learn another language… [and] culture, [and to] learn about being more independent,” she said. “I was hoping that after taking a little time to step back, I could be even more excited about college.”

NICARAGUA 1+4 Fellows are able to choose from four exciting options to engage in a year of meaningful service before starting their four years at Tufts. This year, Fellows are serving in León, Nicaragua; Santa Catarina, Brazil; and Madrid, Spain. Next year, 27 domestic options will also be available through work with City Year.

Abigail Barton with her host mom and placement supervisor in León, Nicaragua. 34

Abigail and Isabel Schneider serving at Asociación Las Tías in León.

PHOTO BY

“IT’S SAFE TO SAY [THIS IS] A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME EXPERIENCE” Eve is working with an environmental organization called Projeto Lontra, as well as a local preschool, in Santa Catarina, Brazil. Eve’s days range from taking care of the neotropical otter (an internationally regarded endangered species which Projeto Lontra studies), guiding tours for the facility, teaching environmental education, and helping with some veterinary procedures. All in Portuguese, of course, which Eve learned from intensive language classes and time with her host family. With stories from her host mom, Eve said she’s able to learn things about her Brazilian home that she wouldn’t be able to otherwise. “She’s always lived on the island, and she knows so much about the area,” Eve said of her host mom. “She has so many great stories about growing up here…even things like Projeto Lontra. It’s built on an old mill [and] she remembers [working there] as a little girl.” Abigail Barton, a Fellow serving in León, Nicaragua, has a similarly close relationship with her host family. So close, in fact, that her little host brother felt comfortable enough to almost join our interview. “Deja por favor,” Abigail told him from her bed. She looked at me and said with a smile, “He thinks it’s very funny to be annoying.” Abigail, much like Justin, is working in the ﬁeld of child development and education, at a mentorship program called Asociación Las Tías, where students come for lunch, homework help, activities, and technical classes in things like sewing or carpentry.

“It’s a preventative program [and] it’s a very caring environment,” she told me. Abigail works as a mentor for the forty or so teenagers. According to Abigail, she loves her placement, but it hasn’t all been easy. Accomplishing goals in an unfamiliar language has been quite the challenge. “I feel intimidated a lot of the time,” she said. “I think: Oh my God, do they like me? Am I letting anyone down? [But] I’m just learning that it’s super important to put yourself out there. You have to be proactive.” In the end, she said, she’s so grateful for the challenge. Facing situations that might be uncomfortable and unfamiliar will almost certainly allow room for growth and self-development—part of what makes taking a bridge year so worth it. “[This year has] given me a lot of time to experience and explore the world, but also to explore myself,” Justin said. “I think that’s very important because I think our society is kind of rushed.” While 1+4 is about dedicating oneself to service work for a year, it’s also about exploring oneself in the process. And because gap years can be such transformational experiences for students, Tufts is working to ensure that all students can participate in them, regardless of financial barriers. “Basically any student that qualifies for Tufts financial aid will receive funding from us,” said Jessye Crowe-Rothstein, program administrator. “Anyone at the higher level of financial need receives full funding from us—so the majority of our Fellows this year [are receiving funding].” Jessye said many of the Fellows in the first year have said they wouldn’t have imagined taking on something like this a year ago—a sentiment echoed by Abigail, who told me she didn’t know if she would have been able to take a gap year if not for Tufts. “Gap years are traditionally a thing that you do if you can afford it, and I think the 1+4 program has

done a really good job of making it…available to people regardless of where you might be at ﬁnancially,” Eve echoed. Beyond making bridge years more accessible, Tufts also offers Fellows a community to come home to. Once Eve, Justin, Abigail, and the twelve other Fellows return to campus, they’ll have a whole staff of support to help integrate their year of service into the next four years at Tufts. “You have this community base that you build up while you’re away, wherever you happen to be in the world,” Eve said of the program. “For us, we get to take some of those great people to university.” While the 1+4 program will provide a tangible presence in Fellows’ lives after their service year, the experience will surely effect their viewpoints, goals, and even future career paths as well. Learning in 1+4 might look a little different than learning inside the traditional Tufts classroom, but there’s no doubt it’s occurring. “I feel like I have a strong set of beliefs that are being formed here,” Abigail said. “[They] will carry into whatever I study, or whatever I do, or just the person that I am at Tufts... A gap year is not a break from school, it’s not a break from learning, it’s just kind of doing it in another way.” As Justin said, 1+4 has allowed him to do something completely different—a step off the beaten path that has been completely worth the risk. “[A gap year] allows you to escape that traditional route. I think it’s led me to follow my own path instead of the one that society creates,” he said. “A lot of kids leave the nest, but we left the whole forest. And I think it’s a good thing.”

BRAZIL

SPAIN

CITY YEAR

Fellows serving in Santa Catarina, Brazil, including Eve Harris, second from the left.

Justin Mejia exploring Madrid.

Students have the option of working with City Year in any of their 27 sites across the US, including Washington, DC.

ADVICE

DEAL-BREAKERS IN CHOOSING THE RIGHT SCHOOL FOR YOU Academic fit

Social fit

How many requirements in this school’s curriculum will you likely see as classes you “have to take”? Science nerds, does School X have lab classes and interesting research? Literary buffs, can you dive into an English major? In asking these questions, do thorough research. How ﬂexible are each school’s requirements? How sure are you of your major? Could an unfamiliar program be exactly what you’re looking for? If a school does not allow you to grow intellectually while pursuing something you’re passionate about… deal-breaker.

As you visit (or revisit) campus or explore online, do the people you meet seem like your future friends? Ask students what they did last weekend and imagine joining them—does it sound fun? Does there seem to be a healthy balance between “partying” and other social options? Between school work and socializing? (Remember to get a big sample size!) As you walk around campus, are people smiling? Are people down-to-earth instead of pretentious? Do they seem collaborative? Nice? If you answered no to any of these questions, that’s a deal-breaker!

DEAL-BREAKERS

Finances Can you and your family afford X school? Have you done your research on outside scholarships? Have you called the financial aid office if something in your financial aid award looks off? If you have done all your research and the answer is simply, “No, we cannot afford this,” that’s a deal-breaker.

Right now, you have a big decision in front of you: where will you spend the next four years (or—for juniors—which schools will make your list of potential new homes)? So let’s talk about deal-breakers, because there’s something you should know: most people in your position deem things deal-breakers that just aren’t. They rely on some very flimsy “research,” adopt other people’s deal-breakers as their own, and even create some out of thin air. Don’t let this happen to you. Below, we’ve created a little chart of things that should be deal-breakers and things that shouldn’t. Use it as a helpful guide through this process… because this decision is too important to make for the wrong reasons.

Other people’s opinions

The little stuff

There are going to be schools your aunt has never heard of. No matter which school you choose, you’ll be able to find a friend’s brother, a teacher’s daughter’s boyfriend, or a chatty barista who had a bad experience there. There will be a ranking somewhere, based on parameters you didn’t set, that will tell you you’re making the wrong choice, no matter what that choice is. Put aside what you’re hearing from other people and trust your research and gut. If there is any time to follow your heart, it’s now.

Never exclude a school from your list because of a lame tradition, the fact that you can’t have a car on campus, or the lack of a nearby Dunkin Donuts. Because the truth is, these things don’t matter. You will ﬁnd your daily coffee shop, you will tolerate a tradition you think is silly and ﬁnd others that are pretty cool, and you’ll get around campus without your Volvo. We really do feel terrible if you end up at a school represented by the colors olive green and magenta, but let’s be honest: that is not a deal-breaker.

NOT DEAL-BREAKERS

Distance from home

ILLUSTRATION BY YUKAI DU - WWW.FOLIOART.CO.UK

If everything else is in place, distance (or lack thereof) is a silly reason to exclude a school from your list. If you have family responsibilities (an ill parent, a sibling who needs support), that is different. But you should not rule out a school that is otherwise a perfect ﬁt just because you don’t want to get on a plane (or because you would rather get on a plane). A college’s ability to transform you has to do with the people that populate its campus and the intellectual excitement that ﬁlls its classrooms. It has little to do with how long it takes to get from your home to its gates.

PROGRAMS With nearly 150 majors and minors, 30 interdisciplinary programs, and the courses of the ExCollege, Tufts’ offerings require more than a brief skimming, so you can find an expansion of this quick list on our website. But in the meantime, skim away. Just note that Tufts undergraduate programs are offered in two schools: Arts and Sciences and Engineering. You can choose majors and minors in either or both schools, and many students do. You may even transfer from one school to the other. SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES MAJORS

German Studies

*available only as a second major

Greek and Latin

Africana Studies

History

American Studies

Interdisciplinary Studies

Anthropology

International Literary and Visual Studies

Applied Mathematics Applied Physics Arabic Archaeology Architectural Studies Art History Astrophysics Biochemistry Biology Biomedical Engineering Sciences* Biopsychology Biotechnology* Chemical Physics Chemistry Child Study and Human Development

Greek

International Relations Italian Studies Japanese Judaic Studies Latin

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING MAJORS PROFESSIONAL DEGREES

Biomedical Engineering Chemical Engineering Civil Engineering Computer Engineering Computer Science Electrical Engineering Environmental Engineering Mechanical Engineering

Engineering Management English Entrepreneurial Leadership Studies Film and Media Studies Finance French Geology Geoscience Geosystems/Earth and Ocean Sciences German Greek

Latin American Studies

ADDITIONAL DEGREE OPTIONS

Greek Archaeology

Mathematics

Architectural Studies

Greek Civilization

Middle Eastern Studies

Engineering

Hebrew

Music

Engineering Physics

History

Peace and Justice Studies

Italian

Philosophy

Engineering Psychology/ Human Factors

Physics

Engineering Science

Judaic Studies

Political Science

Environmental Health

Latin

Psychology

MINORS

Latin American Studies

Psychology/Clinical Concentration

Japanese

Latino Studies Africana Studies

Chinese

Quantitative Economics

Leadership Studies

Classical Studies

Religion

Arabic

Mathematics

Architectural Engineering

Cognitive and Brain Sciences

Russian and Eastern European Studies

Medieval Studies

Architectural Studies

Music

Russian Language and Literature

Art History

Music Engineering

Sociology

Asian American Studies

Philosophy

Spanish

Astrophysics

Physics

Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Biotechnology Engineering

Political Science

Chemical Engineering

Religion

FIVE-YEAR COMBINED DEGREE PROGRAMS

Child Study and Human Development

Roman Archaeology

Community Health Computer Science Drama Economics Education* Engineering Psychology/ Human Factors English Environmental Studies* Film and Media Studies French Geological Sciences/Earth and Ocean Sciences Geology/Earth and Ocean Sciences German Language and Literature

Chinese Tufts/New England Conservatory: BA or BS and Bachelor of Music Tufts/SMFA (School of the Museum of Fine Arts): BA or BS and Bachelor of Fine Arts

Colonialism Studies Computer Science Dance Drama Economics Education Engineering Education

Roman Civilization Russian Sociology Spanish Studio Art Urban Studies Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

CLASS HIGHLIGHTS COMMUNITY HEALTH How do you design a health campaign that will be most effective in reaching your target community? How should we address the next global epidemic? How can we improve health policy to ensure more people have access to quality care? Here are just some of the classes offered in the Department of Community Health: Public Health Approaches to Tropical Infectious Disease Control

Globalization and Health

Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene in Global Health

Social Networks and Social Supports

Race, Ethnicity, and Health

Complementary and Integrative Medicine

Designing Health Campaigns Using Social Media

Community Health Education

Women and Health

Urban Health and Community Planning

Healthcare in America

Adolescent Health

Epidemics: Plagues, People, and Politics

Health Ethics and Policy Science and Practice of Medicine

Social Movements for Health

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Here are just some of the many classes offered in the Department of Mechanical Engineering: Mechanical Design and Fabrication

System Dynamics and Controls

Thermodynamics Applied to Sustainable Energy

Micro-Fabrication and Design

Heat Transfer

Thermal Management of Electrons

Dynamics and Vibration

Biomaterials

Machine Design

Wind Engineering

Power and Propulsion

Computational Thermal-Fluid Dynamics

Applied Fluid Mechanics

Modern Quality Control

PHOTO BY ALONSO NICHOLS/TUFTS UNIVERSITY

Applied Solid Mechanics

BABAK MOAVENI ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

If you ever come to campus for a Tufts tour, you’ll begin your route on a seventh-story footbridge connecting Dowling Hall to the Academic Quad. If you happen to see a handful of civil engineering students jumping up and down on this bridge, don’t be alarmed; likely you’ve stumbled across Professor Babak Moaveni’s Structural Health Monitoring course. “[My] students lay out sensors on the footbridge and collect data by [jumping on] the bridge [for their strength analyses],” explained Professor Moaveni. “Ultimately [they] predict the dynamics of the bridge from their measured data.” Professor Moaveni explained that a bridge’s flexibility or rigidity is very important. “People walk or run in the frequency range of 1-3 Hertz. If the natural period of a footbridge [were] at that frequency, it [would] move quite violently as you [walked] across it.” Fortunately, this particular bridge’s natural period makes it perfectly safe. When I asked Professor Moaveni about his specialty—structural health monitoring—he explained he’s basically “a physician of buildings and bridges.” He investigates the causes of infrastructure failure and the designs that ensure buildings and bridges are safe in all conditions. His team performs structural analysis on buildings and bridges all over the world. “Recently a group of my colleagues and I went to Nepal to instrument five buildings, post-earthquake,” Professor Moaveni explained. The group—which included an undergraduate student—investigated buildings that crumbled in the earthquake last April. “We collected data on one temple, two tall buildings, and two schools,” Professor Moaveni said. In order to further analyze structural forces, his team is also involved in intentional demolitions of buildings in the U.S. By using a very powerful machine called an eccentric mass shaker, Professor Moaveni’s team subjects buildings to intense vibrations and analyzes loading and stress points with sensors. These field studies reveal which parts of buildings undergo stress and lead to failure, offering insight into how we can better design future infrastructure to prevent failures and collapses. Ultimately, this research saves lives. Professor Moaveni also teaches Statics and Dynamics and Structural Reliability. I’m currently enrolled in Statics and Dynamics myself, and I couldn’t be happier to have him as my professor. As a mechanical engineer, I was skeptical about the relevance of a civil engineering class in my schedule. I was wrong. Professor Moaveni has developed a curriculum relevant to many engineering disciplines in a very tangible way. Depending on the day, my class could be evaluating the dynamics of a belt and pulley system, determining the force analysis of human biomechanics... or jumping up and down on a seventh-story bridge while a tour group wanders by. —CAMERON HARRIS ’18

PHOTO BY KATHLEEN DOOHER

Recently Professor Babak Moaveni’s structural analysis team—including one undergraduate—traveled to Nepal to analyze collapsed buildings post-earthquake.

JUMBO SIGHTINGS

PHOTOS BY STUDENTS, PARENTS, AND ADMINISTRATION

TUFTS STUDENTS CAN’T LOOK AT ELEPHANTS WITHOUT SEEING JUMBO. IF YOU’VE SPOTTED ONE LATELY, SEND AN EMAIL WITH YOUR PHOTOS AND CAPTIONS TO JUMBOEDITOR@TUFTS.EDU

HAYDEN LIZOTTE ’15

DANIEL KNIGHT ’19

BEN BRITT ’19

CHARLOTTE GILLILAND ’16

SHELBY CROSS ’18

Admissions Counselor “This friendly old elephant said hello to us in the Mysore Zoo of South India.”

from Jensen Beach, FL “I guess my dog is getting in the Jumbo spirit!”

from Winston-Salem, NC “I am ofﬁcially obsessed with elephants.”

from Birmingham, AL My dad bought me this Jumbo salt shaker when I moved into an off-campus house!

from Minot, ND “Dorm décor!”

MADDY KATZ ’19

CAROLINE BOLLINGER ’19

ALEXANDER WULKAN ’19

SELENA GROH ’19

LAURA TAPPER

from Port Washington, NY “I’m almost too excited to be a Jumbo.”

from McLean, VA “My very talented friend did some awesome henna in the Jumbo spirit!”

from Montreal, Canada “Botswana’s Jumbos welcoming me to the family.”

from Arlington Heights, IL “Crafting an elephant bracelet!”

Associate Director of Admissions “Baby Jumbo, Class of 2036!”

Equal Opportunity Applicants for admission and employment, students, employees, sources of referral of applicants for admission and employment, and all unions or professional organizations holding collective bargaining or professional agreements with Tufts University are hereby notified that this institution does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, veteran status, or national origin in admission or access to, or treatment or employment in its programs and activities. Any person having inquiries or complaints concerning Tufts University’s compliance with the regulations implementing Title VI, Title IX, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, or Section 504 is directed to contact the Office of Equal Opportunity on the Medford/Somerville campus, 617-6273298 or 800-611-5060 (TDD 617-627-3370). This office has been designated by Tufts University to coordinate the institution’s efforts to comply with the regulations implementing Title VI, Title IX, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and Section 504. Any person may also contact the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C. 20202, or the Director, U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, Region One, Boston, Massachusetts 02109, regarding the institution’s compliance with the regulations implementing Title VI, 34 C.F.R. Part 100; Title IX, 34 C.F.R. Part 106; the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, 45 C.F.R. 90; or, Section 504, 34 C.F.R. Part 104. In addition, Tufts has formulated an administrative policy that educational and employment decisions are based on the principle of equal opportunity. The consideration of factors such as sex, race, color, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, national or ethnic origin, age, religion, veteran status, or disability unrelated to a person’s ability, qualifications, and performance is inconsistent with this policy. In accordance with both federal and state law, the university maintains information concerning current security policies and procedures and prepares an annual crime report concerning crimes committed within the geographical limits of the university. Upon request to the Office of Public Safety, 617-627-3912, the university will provide such information to any applicant for admission. The report is also available online at http://publicsafety.tufts.edu/wp-content/uploads/tufts-public-safety-annual-report-2015-16.pdf.

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