The Tufts College Experience program truly lives up to its name. TCE helped me understand better than any other experience what living on a college campus is like. Because of the length of the program, I was able to settle into a groove and feel like I actually lived on campus. I got to know my way around the different buildings and quads and felt familiar walking or taking the train to places like Davis Square and Newbury Street. Beyond just living on campus, I got a taste of what life is like as an independent student. For the first time, I was fully in control of my sleep schedule, my social plans, my exercise, my eating, my time management, and every other aspect of my life. I realized pretty early on that I would need to figure out how to balance all of it in a healthy way, but it took me some time to find what balance was right for me. Sometimes I felt I was putting too much emphasis on certain things, and not enough on others. I would get behind on homework because I was spending too much time with friends, or I would go two days without seeing anyone because I was locked in the library studying. Eventually, I worked out how to fit everything into my schedule in a way that was most beneficial to my mental health. I am really grateful for this experience because I now know so much more about how to navigate independence in my senior year of high school, college, and beyond. I would recommend this program to anyone looking for insight into college life because I feel like I would have never understood fully until I tried it myself.
