Excitement as a Guiding Light

On August 28, new students, with their families nearby, gathered on the Academic Quad for the official start of their Tufts education. In his matriculation address to the 1,826 members of the undergraduate Class of 2029 and new transfer students, President Sunil Kumar recognized that many had arrived at Tufts with a road map for their future. 

“Some of you already have a ‘sound plan,’ which has worked out courses, and internships, and future careers, and so on,” he said. 

The president then laid out his case against such a strategy.

“Arguing against planning? I can already see the angry emails and social media posts from parents,” he said. “I am not arguing against all plans, just those that want to make ‘the most of every day,’ towards a very definite end.”

Part of the problem is that it is impossible to predict that “definite end” with certainty. “We learn more about the consequences of our decisions as time goes by,” he said.

Sticking to a set plan, he said, undervalues exploration and the learning and adaptation that come from getting out of your comfort zone. 

“To not take advantage of all the choices, the freedoms, that Tufts offers seems shortsighted to me. How do you know, as an electrical engineering major, that a philosophy course won’t prove beneficial?” asked Kumar, a professor of electrical and computer engineering who quoted Kierkegaard in his address.

Plus, he said, having too rigid a plan “doesn’t feel like fun to me. And I am a big fan of fun.”

“When you look back on this day in 20 years, trust me when I say that you probably won’t remember how nervous you felt, or how embarrassed you were with the behavior of your parents,” he said. “Instead, what I expect you will recall the most is that sense of pure, unadulterated excitement. I encourage you to hold on to that feeling and let it be your guiding light—not only during your time at Tufts, but throughout your life.”

Move-in Days 

With boxes, bags, suitcases, and caddies, about half of new students arrived on the Medford/Somerville and Boston campuses on August 22 for Pre-Orientation, with the rest arriving on August 27. 

Fun and Fun Challenges at Pre-Orientation 

Pre-O, as it’s called, provides opportunities for new students to get involved in campus activities early on, meet campus leaders and mentors, gain leadership skills, and meet others with similar interests before classes begin. 

Though Pre-O is optional for new students, more than half of the incoming class participated this year.