Though the Tufts Pre-College Summer Program Marketing Essentials was only for 2 weeks, the lessons learned, content covered, and connections made will last a lifetime. The program directors were phenomenal at organising the most enjoyable and memorable 10 days of classes.
Every day started with a cheerful welcome by my professor Jennifer Sagawa, a marketing guru for sure, and her assistant, Sebastian Useche. I felt truly understood and seen as a student when they would start class with a fun activity we called ‘energizers’. If you ever walked by at this time, you would probably have seen thirty-two teenagers and their teacher giggling, either throwing their shoe in the hallway, trying to flick it the furthest away, or even having a relay race balancing an egg on a spoon!
Besides all the fun, content was taught in a way that made sure all students were engaged and felt included, definitely not a boring lecture. Part of what made the program so lively and interesting was that everyone in the program was eager to learn more about marketing, most times class took a turn and became a conversation as each student asked more questions. We all wanted to know about the different sides to marketing; from promotion, 4 P’s, to pricing strategies and ways that marketers can interact with consumers. Through a variety of guest speakers, interactive sessions, and many group activities, Tufts ensured that we were always having fun while learning about something that could become our future job. I completely recommend this program for anyone interested in learning more about marketing or/and thinking in minoring or majoring in marketing.
For the majority of the students, this program simply confirmed the fact that they wanted to continue learning and work in marketing. Not only does this program serve as a fantastic introduction to the marketing field, but it also makes sure that the knowledge you acquire in a day stays forever in your mind, through the dynamic, hands-on group activities, putting knowledge into practice out in the world. As a rising senior who signed up for this program to gain a greater insight of the topic, this not only confirmed my interest and passion, but also I am glad that I spent my last Pre-College Program in this one. I really did love it.
One of the most memorable moments was the first group activity we did. After a morning learning mostly about marketing 101, we got back from lunch to find ourselves put into different groups in a lemonade stand competition, taking the 4 P’s knowledge that we learnt that morning into practice! The goals were simple: whichever group made the most money would win. So lemonade was our Product, my group put $1 as our Price, for the third P (People), we decided to target children and anyone wanting a cold drink on such a hot summer day, and finally, the Place was all over. We weren’t your typical sit-under-the-scorching-sun-and-wait-for-customers-to-arrive kind of lemonade stand—more innovatively, we went to our customers, lemonade on the go! After this experience, I felt bonded as ever with my classmates and knew I would never forget my 4 P’s of marketing.
Something else I enjoyed a lot was the final activity of a shark tank type of product pitch where a team of 4–5 students pitched a brand to about five judges. Whichever team had the greatest idea and pitched it the best won. Not to brag, but my team and I got second! This experience helped me learn a lot about collaboration and leadership and allowed me to demonstrate everything that I had learnt in the past two weeks.
Besides the actual program (which I loved), living on campus was another highlight. I had a lot of fun getting to know people from my same hall at Carmichael Hall as well as other students from different programs at other residential halls; Houston, Wren and Miller Hall. Living independently can be such a fun experience, I encourage everyone to be open minded and exit your comfort zone, meet as many people as possible because that made my experience that much better. For anyone concerned about the dining hall food, do not worry, it is as delicious as it gets. You have multiple choices for vegetables, salads, protein, carbohydrates, and even, best part of all, ice cream! Additionally, if anyone wants to order in, food is delivered very quickly anywhere on campus.
Tufts itself is a pretty place, with incredible buildings and dorms that really give you the college ‘feel.' You get to appreciate this landscape more since you get to walk to class. After classes, students would go outside on the quad to talk; play volleyball, soccer, football, frisbee; and to meet new friends.
I am very thankful for this experience. I can confidently say that I—as well as everyone else who completed this program—would definitely recommend the Marketing Essentials program to other high school students!