Welcome Back Seniors Reception: One Senior's View
by Alia Hastings, A07

Alia Hastings, A07 (center) shares her thoughts about the Welcome Back Seniors Reception. Alia is pictured with Kristin Manzolillo, A07 (left) and Lindsey Williams, A07. View the 2006 Welcome Back Seniors photogallery for more great pictures

September 13, 2006 -- On September 5, this year’s senior class gathered on the library rooftop for appetizers and drinks at the Welcome Back Seniors Reception hosted by the Tufts University Alumni Association (TUAA). Everywhere I went it seemed there was another familiar face or another emotional reunion.

The senior class was finally together again after a year of long-distance chats over Skype and email updates from far-off countries. I was one of the few who stayed behind all year, and our class could not have seemed more fractured. Every semester I had to adjust again, figure out who was on campus and who I had lost to one continent or another. Junior year is an amazing chance for Tufts students to go abroad, but it definitely broke up groups of friends, some of whom didn’t reconnect for an entire year.

Yet when Tuesday came, it was as if nothing had changed, and no time was lost reuniting. There were some unfamiliar faces, but there was warmth nonetheless. We began this journey together, and we will end it together. The Senior Reception was something I felt like I should capture in a photo, but I realized that I didn’t want to spend it behind the camera lens, and that pictures wouldn’t do the event justice. This was a time to cherish while it lasted.

Some of us were scared, “I can’t believe we’re seniors” and others were more than ready to begin our last year together. We’ve grown up a lot, and had experiences that we will never forget or be able to replace, but all of us are held together by one number alone; 2007. We will forever represent Tufts University’s graduating Class of 2007. The Senior Class seemed excited to begin one last wonderful year together.