Name: Zara Fishkin
Year: 2013
Major: English (w/ a minor in Mass Communication & Media Studies)
Hometown: Congers, NY
How did you become interested in Tufts?
To be honest, I didn’t become that interested until I got here. As a senior in high school, I had no idea what I was doing. Apply to Tufts ED? Sure. I got in? Awesome! But I knew I had an incredible four years ahead of me when on my wilderness pre-orientation, after weathering Tropical Storm Danny under nothing but a tarp, the support staff showed up bearing good food, words of encouragement, and zero clothes. Tufts would be rough, but there would always people there to help me out and cheer me up.
What activities do you do around campus?
My two main activities on campus are Imaginet and quidditch. I couldn’t imagine a college experience without them. What’s funny is I don’t think people in either club know much about my participation in the other. The person running around on a broom Saturday afternoons is the same person teaching digital marketing strategies on Wednesday nights. Mixing professionalism with silliness is kind of what I do.
How did you become interested in marketing?
I view marketing as the best way for me to apply my love of writing. If you write persuasively, think creatively, and do your job well, you can make a real impact. One of the campaigns I find most inspiring is the Truth campaign against big tobacco. Using the some of the same strategies brands use to drive sales, Truth uses to implement positive change for American youth. Marketing and advertising get a bad rap sometimes, but I think that when used responsibly, they are powerful tools with high potential to promote good. Plus Mad Men’s awesome.
What are you doing after graduation?
I’ll get back to you on that, hopefully soon.
Who is your hero?
Am I allowed to have a hero five years younger than me? I would like to formally commend my brother for enduring years of my cheating him in Go Fish and other such terrible sibling offenses to become a popular, baseball-playing, physics whiz, and also not hate me. You done good, kid.
Any words for the younger Jumbos?
It’s hard to think of one thing I could say that would prove good advice for everyone. I spent a lot of time at Tufts comparing what I was doing to what my friends were doing and worrying if I stacked up. Were my grades good enough? Were my internships prestigious enough? Were my weekends wild enough? All I have to say is that whatever unique brand of Jumbo life you’re living, I guarantee you’re living it better than anyone else could.