Written by Olivia Hobert, M.A. student in Child Study and Human Development
I’ve officially been a graduate student at Tufts for a little over two weeks now, and I have to admit things are not as I had imagined they would be six months ago.
Back in early March, right before the country went into lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic, I had this vision of the fall: moving into my first apartment in the Medford/Somerville area. Walking around Tufts’ campus in between my classes. Making new friends in my program and eating lunch together. Back in March, I was so excited to begin grad school. Flash forward to now, and my grad school career is off to a bit of a strange start – don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely grateful to be where I am. Tufts is an excellent university with an outstanding reputation. But my day-to-day routine is a bit different than I’d expected. To state the obvious, the COVID-19 regulations have been put into place: everyone you see is wearing masks, and staying six feet apart. Everyone gets tested for coronavirus at least once a week, and there are barely any in-person classes. College life has surely changed drastically over the last six months, but despite the physical distance between everyone, there’s a sense of community in the air. And for that reason, I’m very happy with my decision to enroll in a graduate program at Tufts.
So, what made me apply to Tufts in the first place? To be completely honest, I applied on instinct. I applied without believing in the possibility of actually being accepted. Growing up in the Boston area, I knew Tufts as this extremely competitive, high-end, rigorous university. I didn’t apply to Tufts for undergrad because I didn’t think I would get in. Last fall, though, when I was applying to grad school programs, I came across the Tufts’ Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development’s website and thought it sounded pretty close to perfect. After doing some thorough browsing of the program, I decided to fill out an application for the heck of it. I had a feeling I’d be rejected, but I figured there was no harm in applying.
I initially applied to the PhD program. However, about a month and a half after submitting my application, I received an email from Ellen Pinderhughes, professor and admissions coordinator at Eliot-Pearson, inviting me to apply to the MA CSHD program instead. I was completely shocked to get that email – I had not been expecting the program to show interest in me. Of course, after corresponding with Ellen about my academic and career interests, I applied to the MA program, and was accepted in early February.
“Imposter syndrome” is a term a lot of grad students become familiar with. Essentially, it’s the belief that you don’t deserve to be where you are today. In the context of grad school, a lot of students feel as if they don’t truly belong in their program. I can admit I still feel this way: I have many moments throughout the day where I think Wait, what? I’m actually in grad school at Tufts? Me? It feels too good to be true. If you’re a prospective grad student reading this, I encourage you to take a risk and apply to that program you’re excited about. Even if you’re absolutely sure you won’t get accepted, you never know when the unexpected will occur.