It Begins Anew

Hello once again, fair readers!

After what seemed like an incredibly long summer (although I wouldn't have minded a few more weeks without classes), another school year has begun! And what an important one it is, especially for us 2017-ers. No longer naive and confused underclassmen, we must, as wise but still confused upperclassmen, embrace adulthood as we start to think about post-graduation plans.

I know how much you all missed my incessant Friends references.

For me, returning to the Career Center, and Tufts as a whole, feels like re-acquainting with an old friend. By now, I'm almost always sure of where I am, and when wandering parents and prospective students ask me where Dowling Hall is I can usually point them in the right direction (confession: for almost all of my freshman year I thought that tour groups met at Bendetson instead of Dowling. I gave wrong directions to dozens of people.) So, like I would for any old friend with whom I'm catching up, I'll give you the run-down of how I spent my summer. But instead of boiling down the last four months to a quick "It was great" or boring you with every last detail of my summer, I thought I'd give it to you in a top-10 style, in tribute to the now-retired David Letterman (I have high expectations, Stephen Colbert). Here are the top ten most interesting, least interesting, most random, and weirdest things that I did this summer:

1. I started drinking coffee. I finally broke my hipster vow to never surrender to the most over-used drug on Earth, and now I honestly don't know what I did before coffee. Was I even awake? I doubt it. 

2. I discovered my undying love for podcasts. Where my Serial fans at?! 

3. I spent almost 200 hours on trains. Although I interned in Boston and worked in a lab at Tufts throughout the summer, I decided to live at home to save money. Which meant that a lot of my time during the week was spent riding the rails of the MBTA, in all its wildly unreliable glory. I found ways to pass the time, and now I know every announcement in a commuter rail conductor's repertoire.

4. I learned how to knit. This was one of the ways to pass the time on the train. I've always felt like an old lady (I love naps and rocking chairs and I'm always cold), so I figured I might as well lean into it.

5. I dedicated at least two mornings every week to watching bees. I worked in the Starks lab for two or three days a week, helping out with a study on the effects of Anthidium manicatum, or the wool-carder bee, on bumblebee fitness. Most of the time, I watched the entrance and exit tubes to bumblebee hives, counting the number of bees that left and returned in a 30-minute interval. It sounds boring, but it taught me to appreciate complexity in the most seemingly simple of places.

6. I went to the 2015 Pokemon World Championships. For years I was a closeted Pokemon fan, and only really began to publicly decree my passion once I discovered the underground subculture of adult Pokemasters. The World Championships were held in Boston this year, and let me just say, it was one of the greatest and nerdiest days of my life.

7. I mastered my phone voice. I spent two days a week this summer as an intern at Brigham and Women's Hospital, where I assisted with chart review, recruitment, and maintenance of several studies in the Rheumatology Department's Section of Clinical Science. One of my main duties was to call potential study participants to ask if they were interested in joining our research sample, and I had to learn to talk in a confident but not arrogant and calm but not boring manner. I usually hate talking on the phone, so this was a real challenge for me, but now if my friends want to order pizza I'm the default caller. (Internships are all about gaining transferable skills, am I right?)

8. I spent every weekend from July 4th to Labor Day on a farm. For those of you who read the Career Center blog faithfully, you may know that I've worked at a farm in my hometown over the summer for the past few years. When I wasn't on a train or watching bees, you could catch me picking corn and washing cucumbers.

9. I took my first online college course. This is something I'd definitely recommend to anyone who wants to get a jump on coursework. I was able to take a required class for my major at my own pace and open up my schedule in the fall to continue my internship at the Brigham.

10. I made plans to leave North America for the first time ever. One of my best friends from high school is studying abroad in Perugia, Italy this semester - and come Thanksgiving 2015, I'll be joining her! I'm so excited for my first trans-oceanic voyage that I'm not even the least bit depressed about taking organic chemistry this semester.

Overall, it was one of my favorite summers so far, and although I'm sad to see it end, I can't wait for what junior year will bring me! Like I mentioned in my post last May, I'll be not only blogging for the Career Center this year but also working as a Career Fellow, an exciting new program that will facilitate peer mentoring for career advice, resume critiques, and more. Stay tuned for my weekly posts on my attempts (and most likely failures) to mature into a somewhat put-together adult!

Until next time,

Sean Boyden

Class of 2017

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This Is It (Sort of)

I hate to reminisce. Really, I do. I’ve had some great memories, but looking back on them always makes me more sad than anything else. Bittersweet has always tasted just a little too bitter for me.

But, when I sat down to write this, my last post for the academic year, I couldn’t help but click back in time to the first post that I ever wrote for the Career Center. In that post, I wrote about the trials and tribulations that faced me and my fellow 2017-ers, from declaring a major to fighting the sophomore slump. I said that although I thought (for a long time) that I knew what I wanted to do, I was questioning my life plan, and hoped that I’d be able to solidify a career (or at least a career field) by the year’s end. I spoke of the “utter confusion” that young college students must wade through during these dangerous transitional years.

And, for the first time, reminiscing made me so, so happy. I thought back to who I was last September, and who I am now, and I am so proud of the progress I’ve made. I (finally) declared my major; I did some serious soul-searching, and came out the other side a much more self-assessed person; and I have a *very* tentative idea of what I want to do for a career.

I was fortunate enough to cover a lot of ground with my posts this year. I was able to attend and write about the Etiquette Lunch, the Fall Career Fair, the Spring SciTech Fair, the Sophomore Career Seminar, and more. I reviewed some common resources the Career Center offers, like tips on writing a resume, tools for finding internships and volunteer experiences, and suggestions for navigating the application process. Through it all, my career (and personal) journey was a common theme, from my posts about declaring a major, the sophomore slump, and the quarter-life crisis. And, with the Career Center’s help, I’ve made some pretty big discoveries and decisions. I've learned that although I can be introverted, I want to work with people and make a difference. I’ve learned about all the possible career fields that are available to me, and since choosing the health field, I’ve discovered the near-infinite ways I can enter it. I’ve developed my written communication skills and ability to work independently and in a team. But most of all, working for the Career Center has allowed me to utilize my passions and skills in a job that I love and look forward to doing – what more can one want?

The Career Center has helped me immensely with my personal career development. With their guidance, I’ve been able to find some incredible summer opportunities. This summer, I’ll be a clinical research intern at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, working with patients who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis to determine the root cause of their pain. I’ll also be working in an animal behavior research lab here on campus, helping a graduate student with her study on the effects of invasive bee species on local bee populations. For so long, I’ve wondered whether I want to go into human or animal medicine; hopefully, my experiences this summer will shed light on what it really means to work with patients in a clinical setting, and I’ll be able to determine whether it’s the right environment for me. Either way, I am so grateful for these opportunities, and the people at the Career Center – especially my supervisor, Nicole Anderson –  who have not only helped me secure these positions, but have been incredible role models and sources of guidance all year.

Right about now, you might be thinking, "Wow, this kid certainly has a lot to say about himself. But how is this relevant to me or the Career Center?" Well, this is one of those "if he can do it, anyone can" scenarios. I hope that from my experiences with and writings on the Career Center, I have inspired students - especially first-years and sophomores - to seek out the Career Center and all it has to offer. Your future doesn't have to be this big scary idea that you'll worry about once you graduate - with the Career Center, you can come in at any point in your own career development story, and find support, advice, and guidance from a qualified professional. The Career Center shouldn't be a place that you only go to during your senior spring when you're trying to apply for jobs or field offers - you should utilize its resources to the greatest possible extent. And, as my story (the first part of it anyways) proves, if you do, you will not be disappointed.

Well, here we are. The end of my last blog post.

Just kidding! Did you really think the Career Center could shake me that easily? The summer will be fun, but I’ll be back with more TV references than ever next fall, continuing my post as a Career Center Social Media Intern. I’ll also be working even more with the Career Center as a Career Fellow, a new program being launched that will feature students (like me!) helping other students with their personal career development, both through one-on-one meetings and group presentations. So although I may be leaving a me-shaped hole in your hearts for a few months, fear not, readers! I won’t be gone for long, and I’m so incredibly excited to continue this project that has already done so much for me as a budding professional and person. So it’s not a goodbye, but a “see you later”. Good luck to all with your summer plans (whatever they may be), and I’ll see you soon.

Until next time (and there will be one),

Sean Boyden

Class of 2017

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