Maggie Basinger

Class Year: 2023
Major: Math
Hometown: San Diego, CA
Favorite place on campus: Prez Lawn
Dream job: Lawyer
Tufts activities/involvements: Model UN, Hillel, HCAT, Admissions Tour Guide
Don’t be afraid to reach out for help!
Raga Chilakamarri

Class Year: 2023
Major: Undecided
Hometown: Sharon, MA
Favorite place on campus: Relaxed, sun-bathed afternoons in Carm, enjoying good food and great company
Dream job: Make films at Pixar, write/design for the New York Times Magazine, and/or own a sandwich food truck named “Sammy’s”
Tufts activities/involvements: Member of Club Ultimate Frisbee Team, TUSC Marketing: Graphic Design Coordinator, Tufts Wilderness Orientation (TWO) Support Staff, Contributing Writer for the Arts and Features Sections of the Tufts Daily
If you’re ever feeling all stressed out and internally tangled, hit pause, take a walk or a shower, and, if weather and geography permits, lie down on some grass and listen to your favorite songs. It’s often better to tackle problems then you’re unwound rather than knotted-up.
Carolina Espinal

Class Year: 2021
Major: Political Science
Hometown: Miami, FL
Favorite place on campus: Ginn Library
Dream job: Immigration Attorney
Tufts activities/involvements: InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Tufts Daily, First-Generation Collective, BEAST Peer Leader
Fervently pursue your passions and believe in your ability to foster change. Uncertainties and failures, while uncomfortable, are ubiquitous. Embrace them. Don’t hold back, be unstoppable, and always give yourself a little grace.
Ismenia Ginebra

Class Year: 2022
Majors: Child Study & Human Development and Clinical Psychology
Hometown: New Hyde Park, NY (born and raised in Weston, Florida)
Favorite place on campus: Lilly Music Library
Dream job: Infant Mental Health Specialist
Tufts activities/involvements: Student Worker at Lilly Music Library, Tufts Opera Ensemble, Tufts Student Theatre, Tufts Enchanted A Capella, Tufts Child Development Association
The rate at which you get adjusted/acclimated to each season of college doesn’t need (and shouldn’t) be at the rate of those around you. What matters most is that you are going at the rate that works and is best for YOU.
Jessie Lan
Lead Career Fellow

Class Year: 2021
Major: Cognitive & Brain Sciences; minors in Education and Asian American Studies
Hometown: Bridgewater, NJ
Favorite place on campus: Mural room in the third floor of the Asian American Center
Dream job: Guidance counselor, perhaps!
Tufts activities/involvements: Tufts Asian Student Coalition, SYNS
Striving for excellence is different from demanding perfection of yourself! Don’t get paralyzed thinking of outcomes and impossible expectations – if you find anywhere to start chipping away at a task, little things quickly fall into place to become much more achievable overall. So if you feel overwhelmed or unequipped to do something, put faith in your own abilities and try to just begin.
Ekin Ocalan

Class Year: 2022
Majors: Psychology and Economics
Hometown: Istanbul, Turkey
Favorite place on campus: Tower Cafe
Dream job: Marketing in the Food/Arts/Culture sectors
Tufts activities/involvements: Tufts Psych Society, Students of Turkey, European Students Association, Tufts Daily
Learn to push yourself out of your comfort zone without being hard on yourself. Often the opportunities you want lay outside of your comfort zone. It is perfectly normal that you are scared of going there but once you are there you might realize it is not as scary as you thought it was in the first place and you might even enjoy being there.
David Zhao

Class Year: 2021
Majors: Economics & International Relations
Hometown: Daly City, CA
Favorite place on campus: Eaton
Dream job: Strategy Ops in Tech
Tufts activities/involvements: 180 Degrees Consulting
Challenge yourself to not procrastinate! Networking and recruiting may seem intimidating but once you familiarize yourself with what to do, things get easier.