Smith Senior Citizen

Probably one of the most common questions I get about Smith is what the academics are like and how big my classes usually are. Here’s my take on it:

I may be biased, but I love the academics at Smith. I’m a psychology major, so to speak to my own experience: I started with intro psych, and even though it was an intro class of about 80 students, we still spent time each week in discussion group. After intro, I moved onto colloquiums, which usually cap at 25 students or so and are a mix of lecture and discussion. After that, by my junior year I was taking seminars which have anywhere from 8-12 students. I have absolutely loved the professors I’ve met, and have a few professors in the psychology department and outside of it that I have followed around a little bit. I think that what I’ve enjoyed most about academics here has been the class sizes, the focus on discussion, and my relationship with my professors. 

Now, as a senior, I spend a lot of time in discussion groups, doing group projects and making fancy papers or posters. This is a picture of me and two of my friends in front of a poster we made for our Autism Spectrum Disorders seminar, our poster was about Computer Based Interventions for youth with ASD. This was our last project before our final essay, so we look a little exhausted but happy to be nearing the end of the semester.

It’s hard to believe that only a week ago I was finishing up finals and getting ready to drive home. So far my break has been full of food, family, pets and holiday cheer. But really, the holiday season started even before I left. Amidst finals, my friends and I exchange gifts and the first years in my house all made cookies. They were both welcome breaks from writing 4 different papers. 

Here’s a picture of us exchanging gifts, one of favorite gifts was from my friend Dana, who got me shark socks and stickers.

Here is a picture of some of my housemates in Emerson decorating the cookies the first years made. 

And finally, here are some pictures from my break: our tree, my family, and, of course, my cat.

I have not been posting this month because I wholeheartedly stand in solidarity with my fellow bloggers, especially those from minority background on this campus. As Senior Interviewers, and as bloggers, we have met with people who work in Admissions and College Relations and I am personally feeling really excited with how we are moving forward. The bloggers had a meeting last week where we talked about how we think the main SmithbySmithies blog, which reblogs content from each of our personal Tumblrs, should be run, and what posts should be promoted. We are currently drafting some guidelines to ensure that many different voices are represented equally on the blog and to increase transparency overall. It’s clear to us that it should not have been left up to one student to moderate the blog, and so we are working to help the administration moderate it in a more representative way.

Personally, I think the SmithbySmithies blog is so vital to admissions at Smith because it is one of the only places where prospective students can glimpse what life is really like here, rather than what it might look like on a brochure. However, with any platform that seeks to represent students’ voices, we have to look carefully at whose voices are promoted and whose experiences are prioritized. I represent only a small portion of experiences at Smith. I am not perfect, and what I choose to post should not ever be considered representative of any experience larger than my own.

I also want to be transparent: I am a Senior Interviewer, and so I am paid to run this blog, but I am not censored in any way, besides potentially by my own affinity for Smith. I will do my best to show what life is like here: and I’ll say right away that it’s not perfect. But no college or university is. Smith is not exempt from the climate we exist in. We are not a bubble. Racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, transphobia, all exist in Northampton and on this campus. I would be impressed to find a college campus where they don’t. What I think makes Smith unique is how politically active the student body it, and how willing we are to call out, call in, and push forward. Two weeks ago, I attended a rally to support undocumented students on campus, and demand that the administration make our campus a “sanctuary campus,” which will commit to helping students who may be targeted or threaten deportation under the new administration in January. This is still a work in progress. Similarly, at the same protest, speakers stood in solidarity with the Labor Union on campus which has been pushing for necessary benefits for dining staff and housekeepers. These negotionatics have taken far too long, but it looks like they are finally headed in the right direction, in part due to an incredibly dedicated body of student activists.

If there are any questions I can help answer about any of this, please reach out to me. I am going to continue posting content about my life at Smith, where I am almost a second semester senior (yikes!). Please check out our main blog, @smithbysmithies for links to any of the other (amazing) bloggers.

Xo

This week has been hard. I wouldn’t be able to pretend it was anything but. My friends and I all stayed up to watch the election on Tuesday night, and I watched as the mood went from celebratory to heartbroken in a matter of four hours. 

Wow, it’s been a super busy few weeks!! One of the questions I get asked most often is what types of things we do on weekends/for fun. Here are some pictures from my last two weekends. Last week we had a house bonding activity with the first years and seniors in the house, it was a fun time for me to get to know some of the underclassmen and impart some wisdom.

Then, the weekend before last, some friends and I hung out at Smith, we played music in my room and chatted. Some of my favorite nights are just hanging out with the house, taking goofy pictures and playing music from like 2010.