Living the Dream

Michelle Millett, J97, AG98: Chair of Tufts Alumni Rhode Island, Tufts Alumni Council, Alumni Chapter Leadership Award Winner   

As a student at Tufts, I was a double major in Clinical Psychology and Child Development. I was also very involved in planning and programming for the Tufts community. I was the co-chair of the Tufts Lecture Series, sat on the Tufts Programming Board, a member of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority, and I worked for two summers on campus. I also worked and volunteered at various non-profits in the area as part of my work-study.

My first volunteer involvement was interviewing for TAN (Tufts Admissions Network). As a minority student at Tufts, part of an entering class with only 36 African-American students, I hoped to give incoming students the opportunity to discuss and learn more about what Tufts is like as a first generation college and minority student. I really wanted to be a bridge for the student coming to Tufts from, perhaps, a non-traditional upbringing. I grew up in an urban environment, attending public schools and raised by a single-mom. Tufts was quite a change for me.

Formerly, I was a political campaign advisor, legislative aide, and social-justice employee. Currently, I am a stay-at-home mom. (AKA: LIVING THE DREAM).

I lead Tufts Alumni Rhode Island. I am a member of the Tufts Alumni Council and a member of its Regional Planning Committee. I was also a member of my 20th Tufts Reunion Committee: Class of 1997. 

I saw an opportunity to get involved as Chapter Leader area and thought it would be fun to re-energize the local alumni community—and also try my hand at creating opportunities to network and reconnect Tufts’ diverse student body. The other volunteering I do is a direct response to my exposure in the role of alumni chapter leader.

I am relatively new to the position and have only hosted three events, but, our shared happy hour with the RI Tufts Lawyers Association this Spring was a great collaboration.  The event brought out some different alumni—and I received an Alumni Chapter Leadership Award—which was unexpected and truly appreciated.

There is no typical day or daily responsibilities.  As chapter leader, I focus on long term event planning and prioritize having a variety of programming opportunities.  I do not have a committee or any other volunteers in Rhode Island at this point—so it’s just me. I attend regular bi-annual meetings at Tufts for my council responsibilities.

I continue volunteering with Tufts because I enjoy creating new connections, re-establishing old friendships, and reaching out to Tufts community members of the past and the future. Tufts is where I met my husband—day one of orientation my freshman year (and we have been together every day since).  It gave me a tremendous education, in that when I went out in the real world, I felt better prepared, more capable of problem solving and outside-of-the-box thinking, as well as more confident than other peers in my cohort.  I find Tufts to be an institution continuing to value and advance a policy and social agenda that is still in line with where I want to see the world—a profound commitment to civic engagement, progressive public policy, and international alliances are the skills of the future.

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Interested in getting involved? Submit a volunteer interest form!