So This is Tufts

On September 1st, there was an all graduate student orientation at Tufts University. Just to clarify for those that do not know, the Museum School is academically affiliated with Tufts. This means that I take my required non-art courses there and also receive my degree from Tufts.

Located in Medford, I need to take two T lines an approximate 45 minutes to get to the Davis Square stop. From there I walk north for another 15 minutes or so to get to the main campus. Its an amazing campus that is on a slope filled with a variety of differently styled buildings, most colonial. There are big trees, long and winding walkways, and freshmen scattering to and fro carrying mattress pads and ugly target lamps.

Several hundred students filled an auditorium somewhere in the middle of campus. It was the "Graduate Matriculation Ceremony" that we were about to partake in, which mostly consisted of academic "be all you can be" speeches by faculty and students that in my opinion could have been cut in half if not more. I probably should have skipped it all together, but I wanted to pick up my student ID and T (public transportation) pass. To my disappointment the T pass was a flimsy card that operated monthly, not the super sophisticated and cool hard plastic card that Bostonians keep in their wallets as they wave over the sensor at the entrance stalls. Moving on to receive my ID, I was told that it would not be ready for another week or so... more on the ID picture story later...

On the way home I stopped at Diesel Cafe, a cafe recommended to me by some baristas at Intelligentsia. It was pretty great, but I am still in search of the boutique espresso shops that I long for in LA, Intelli, Cafe Luxxe, Surfas, French Market to name a few. Time will tell I suppose.

All in all, while I am excited to take four classes at Tufts, one this semester, my early interactions with the institution were not the most favorable. It seems that east coast Universities lack a sense of humor... more which I will get to later.