There are times in your life when hours feel like days, days like weeks, weeks like years, and years, decades. Where time seems to stretch in a way it never could before, making what was in another setting trivial, irreplaceable. This was one of those times. There are times where what you expect to be an insignificant section of time ends up being as significant or more than anything else. This was one of those times. There are times when the stars align, wavelengths sync up and immensely complicated social interactions seem to just work. This too was one of those times. The past seven days were all of this and so much more because no matter your background or your friend group background at home the people on this program, the fellows of 1+4, are some of the kindest and bravest kids you will ever meet.
My summer life has always been spent in camps and every one has begun the same way: ice breakers where you find your similarities — the movies and TV shows you watch, the pets you share in common — followed by calmer moments where you begin to explore each other’s differences. Eventually, after much teenage résumé swapping, you get to to the stuff hidden beneath many layers of high school drama. But Tufts 1+4 had only a week to peel back those layers and I don’t think it could have done a better job.
The Tufts 1+4 fellows only met 148 hours ago. That kind of time goes by in an instant during any given school year. But this past week has felt more like a year than anything else. These past seven days have had more laughter, friendship and growth than should be physically possible. Now, we are thousands of miles away from each other, but with only a weeks worth of living together, we are all still in each other’s hearts.
So thank you Jessye, Mindy, Isaac, Nellie, and Lydia and everyone else for accomplishing in one week what most programs fail to do in eight. Now comes the hard part, now comes our part.
