thesmithadventure
Emma's Adventures at Smith College
class of 2020 // english lit major // swg minor // international student // she/her
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Sending my love to entering and current Smithies today!
Today, Smith released their reopening plan for the 2020-2021 academic year. Whether you’re excited or heartbroken, I hope you’re all doing OK.
Please, please reach out to someone if you have questions or concerns. Smith has resources that are available to you regardless of your situation -- you don’t have to figure this out on your own. My Tumblr inbox is open if you need help finding anything or figuring anything out <3
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Hello! I was recently accepted to Smith and was thinking about taking a gap year. I was wondering if you could tell me what that process looks like/if it’s possible that a deferral request would be denied. Thank you!!!
Hi there! Congratulations on your acceptance to Smith - I hope you and yours are celebrating your achievement (and staying healthy and socially distant!)
While I can’t speak from personal experience, this is what I found on the web page for first year applicants:
“Admitted students who wish to defer their offer of admission should send a letter to Dean of Admission Deanna Dixon, or send an email to the admission office. We must have your request in our office by June 1. Please state the reasons for deferral and explain your plans for the next year.
First-year students may defer admission for one year only—we do not allow first-year students to enroll in January.”
From what I can tell, Smith should accept requests for deferral as long as you explain your situation and have some kind of plan for how you’ll spend your time. I haven’t heard of anyone having their request denied, but have heard of plenty of people who have taken gap years (and really enjoyed them!). Feel free to send any questions to the admissions office if you need any more detailed advice.
Best of luck!
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(Photos: my friends and I in our graduation robes -- making memories, taking part in traditions, and saying goodbye in style).
Impromptu Senior Celebrations!
The moments after we found out that we had to leave Smith were heartbreaking, scary, and full of unknowns. But one thing was certain: Senior Week had begun.
Senior Week is the week between the end of classes and graduation when only the graduating class is left on campus, enjoying their last remaining days as a Smith student. From what I hear (considering I’ll never have a traditional senior week...), seniors take part in official funded events, or just hang out with their friends and families.
For the class of 2020, confronted with the impending cancellation our end-of-year celebrations, things were evidently going to be different. Within hours of the announcement, there was talk of an ad-hoc Senior Ball on the Quad, a graduation ceremony, senior banquets for houses and orgs, and an Ivy Day parade -- social distancing was not yet the norm, so we wanted to fit in some celebrations while we still felt like we could. While I won’t get into the details of the alleged kegger on the lawn of some Quad houses (a first for my time at Smith), I absolutely want to document the things I did to celebrate my four years of college.
Organized by the Senior Class Cabinet of the Student Government Association, my in-person graduation ceremony took place two days after Smith announced it’s move to online delivery. Hundreds of us gathered in front of the Wilson steps, robes on and Corona beers in hand (for the irony, of course), to watch each other walk the stage. Members of the SGA gave speeches lamenting the time we lost but congratulating us all for getting this far, and a student dressed as Nancy Pelosi (our would-be Commencement speaker) ripped up the email that informed us of the changes, to cheers from the seniors and their friends. Then, we lined up by house, announced our names into a microphone, and walked the stage.
After “graduation” was Chapin House’s “Senior Banquet.” Our Junior class representatives and non-senior Social Event Coordinators did an incredible job putting the event together, ordering every senior’s favorite food and organizing speeches and prophecies. Getting to “will” some gifts to underclassmen was a really moving way to say goodbye and express my appreciation for my house. We also had a Senior Banquet for Celebrations Dance Company later that week, which was an equally lovely way to round up a semester of hard work.
(Photo: Celebrations Dance Company’s seniors at our Senior Banquet, and the sweetest Instagram caption from our Publicity Team).
Finally, some time with the friends I made and kept over my four years at Smith. Inbetween movie nights, walks in the woods, and communal naps, we made an effort to take the photos we would have taken at an actual graduation ceremony. My friend Jemara - unofficial group photographer and light of my life - organized a photoshoot for an extended group to take photos around campus. We played music, hyped each other up, and left satisfied that the world would see us in our robes.
I am impressed, moved, and so grateful for the Smith community’s ability to come together and celebrate each other in times of sadness and uncertainty. Even in our heartbreak at losing precious time at Smith, students supported each other and attempted to find some kind of closure. The days before I left campus were scary and devastating, but these moments with my class and my friends will be some of my favorite college memories.
Plus, I crossed a big item off my Smith bucket list: I conquered the owl statue. Don’t tell the class of 1955...
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Hello! I was recently accepted to Smith and was thinking about taking a gap year. I was wondering if you could tell me what that process looks like/if it’s possible that a deferral request would be denied. Thank you!!!
Hi there! Congratulations on your acceptance to Smith - I hope you and yours are celebrating your achievement (and staying healthy and socially distant!)
While I can’t speak from personal experience, this is what I found on the web page for first year applicants:
“Admitted students who wish to defer their offer of admission should send a letter to Dean of Admission Deanna Dixon, or send an email to the admission office. We must have your request in our office by June 1. Please state the reasons for deferral and explain your plans for the next year.
First-year students may defer admission for one year only—we do not allow first-year students to enroll in January.”
From what I can tell, Smith should accept requests for deferral as long as you explain your situation and have some kind of plan for how you’ll spend your time. I haven’t heard of anyone having their request denied, but have heard of plenty of people who have taken gap years (and really enjoyed them!). Feel free to send any questions to the admissions office if you need any more detailed advice.
Best of luck!
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The Adventure Ends...
(Photo: posing in my graduation regalia with the traditional Ivy Day rose).
This week, I said my final goodbyes to Smith.
As I’m sure many of you are aware, Smith has made the decision to close the residential houses to most of the student body and switch to remote classes, one of the first colleges in the country to do so. After an extended two week Spring Break, professors will send out new syllabi and begin working with students to navigate online courses. None of us are sure how this will work yet, but updates are coming in daily from the administration and from individual professors.
To say that my heart is broken would be an understatement. I have never been less ready to close a chapter of my life, and I would give anything to experience the final 2 months of my senior year on campus in normal circumstances. My goodbyes to friends, professors, staff, study spots, and my incredible housemates were more difficult than I can say. Like the rest of the class of 2020, and like the entire Smith community, I am devastated to have to leave before my time is up.
But part of what I am feeling is a sense of overwhelming gratitude for the communities I am part of. From organizing impromptu graduation and senior banquet ceremonies at two days notice, to donating upwards of $50,000 in emergency student funding, to reorganizing the college’s entire residential structure to accommodate students with nowhere else to go, I have seen Smith’s networks come together to carry each other through a crisis. The college is providing laptops, webcams, plane tickets, housing, and a refund for room and board; alums are offering spare rooms, rides, storage, and straight-up financial support for those of us struggling to figure out next steps. I am so grateful to be able to see the Smith community come together like this.
As for me, I’ll be living with a friend in New York until I make a plan, adjusting to social distancing and life away from campus while classes continue online. I’m a little scared and a lot confused, but I’m happy to be safe and with people I love.
Smith, you have been worth every second of heartbreak in all of this. I’d skip a hundred graduations if I could go back and do it all again. You are the hardest goodbye because you have been the best thing I have ever done, and I’ve learned more in these four years (in these ten days, even!) than I could ever articulate. I wish it wasn’t over. But I’m glad it could happen.
Stay tuned for updates about college via Zoom, and for more “graduation” photos than anyone wants to see (because you know we were all out there organizing regalia photo shoots while we had the chance). Wash your hands, #FlattenTheCurve, and stay safe, folks!
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A Last-Minute SWG Minor!
To complete my thesis application last year during my semester abroad, I had to spend a lot of time staring a my transcript (counting credits, calculating different GPAs, etc., etc.,). In doing so, I realized something... I was half way to a minor in the Study of Women and Gender department! So, after double checking the requirements and making sure that I was definitely done with my major, I returned to campus and declared a minor in my second to last semester at Smith.
This time last year, I had taken three classes towards the minor: SWG 150 (the intro class), Postcolonial Women Writers in the English department, and the Sociology of Sexuality. In order to finish it, I needed to take a class on race and gender, a seminar, and another elective to hit all 6 requirements. After taking White Supremacy in the Age of Trump with Loretta Ross (!!!) last semester, I am now taking a seminar called Memoir Writing and a colloquium called Reproductive Justice, both in the SWG department.
The ability to have a double major or minor was a big reason why I wanted to study in the US and at Smith specifically, so I’m really glad that I’ll be able to graduate with more than one field on my diploma. I’m grateful that I was able to explore my interests and end up in two fields that reflect the work I have enjoyed most at Smith.
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My Spring 2020 Schedule!
(Photo: a screenshot of my class schedule, taken from the Smith portal and decorated as a way to procrastinate my reading...)
With the first week of classes done and the semester fully under way, I have officially decided on the last classes I will ever take as a Smith student. Yikes!
Here’s what I’m in for:
SWG 271: Reproductive Justice
4 credits
A colloquium-style discussion class based on historical and modern-day social movements for reproductive justice.
SWG 360: Memoir Writing
4 credits
A senior seminar cross-listed in the English and Study of Women and Gender departments, focused on reading memoirs written by women the past 10 years and writing our own based on their work!
DAN 216: Intermediate Contemporary
2 credits
A technique class, just for fun!
ENG 400: Honors Thesis
4 credits, year-long
More on that right here!
This all adds up to 14 credits, meaning that my final semester will have room for job applications, the life admin that comes with trying to move across the country, and making the most of my final months on campus. You’ll also notice that 2/3 of my schedule is in the Study of Women and Gender department - because I spontaneously declared a SWAG minor last semester, after realizing that I only needed two more classes to complete it! I’m excited that I get to make the most of the interdisciplinary opportunities in Smith’s open liberal arts curriculum by getting an extra subject on my diploma.
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Hi! I'm an international student and have been accepted into Smith! I was wondering if you could tell me if the college send out any info regarding travel or anything to do with what to do next? I haven't heard anything since I was accepted and I'm stressing a little bit. Thanks!
Congrats on your acceptance! From what I can remember, all the information you need about travel will come when the exact dates for the International Student Pre-Orientation (ISP) are decided and released. You can see the information about last year’s arrival dates/times here, or reach out to the International Students and Scholars’ Office at [email protected] if you’d like to find out when that information will be available, but for now I think it’s fine to sit tight. Hope this helps!
Emma ‘20
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Celebrations Dance Company presents: Catharsis (Fall 2019 Show!)
(Photo: our show poster designed by Publicity Team member Ella ‘21, listing the names of all of our choreographers [top], and the full cast of the show just before our call time [bottom])
Every year on the first day of the Fall semester reading period, Celebrations Dance Company holds it’s end of semester show to showcase all of our choreography projects! There were 8 pieces in total spanning contemporary to commercial , solos to full company pieces. This year, we invited guests performers from the wider dance community to show their work, so the range of styles was incredible - one piece included someone eating raw onion on stage, while another was set to the choreographers own spoken word poetry! I performed in two pieces: one contemporary piece, and a re-showing of our hip-hop routine from Quad Celebration. I’m hoping to perform in some smaller pieces next semester (and maybe even choreograph something myself!) for my last ever performance with the company before graduation...
This year, I’m serving on the company’s Executive Board as Publicity Team Manager, meaning that I got to help come up with our publicity plan for the show! We had so much fun designing posters, Instagram countdowns (check us out at @/celebrationsdanceco on Insta!), and spreading the word about the show. We were really pleased with the turn-out on the day - I could see a lot of familiar faces!
Dancing with the company has been one of the most joyful parts of my Smith experience. I’m so excited to get stuck in after J-term and to see all of these lovely faces again!
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Smith’s First Snow!
(Top: at the bottom of the hill near Paradise Pond, moments after crashing into a snow pile with my sled. Middle: the view of the Botanic Garden from the stairwell of Chapin Hose. Bottom: a snowman I helped make with some friends!)
Last Monday was our first snow of the year, and Smith made the rare but always appreciated decision to cancel classes! I made the most of it by heading out for a snowball fight and some sledding before cozying up with some soup, light homework (the grind don’t stop this thesis year), and a Harry Potter movie with friends. Two days later, the snow still looks fresh and beautiful, and I’m counting down the days until I head home for the holidays.
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New England Sunsets
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about how this might be my last ever New England Fall... so I’ve been trying to savor the run up to the holidays as much as possible. This semster, I’ve drank more chaider than ever before, stopped for longer to step on crunchy leaves, and, of course, ran outside to take in the sunsets.
Skies like this always remind me how beautiful it is that I am here. I’ve said this before on this blog, but my journey to and through Smith - from working-class industrial England to a top-tier American university - is the thing in my life I am most proud of. Sunsets like this remind me of being a first year, stopping on the top step of the Chapin staircase to admire the colors on my way to my room. They remind me that hard times are worth it to be able to see cool things in cool places.
So, I’m looking back on these photos from a few weeks ago to remind me that finals and grades and a good GPA are not the only reasons I’m here. I’m here because I want to experience everything the world has to offer, whether that’s through education, travel, and navigating a life of firsts. Sometimes, that means putting down the books and running outside without a coat to take some pictures. I think those are the moments I’ll remember most.
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Hi I’m a first year and am feeling a little homesick and struggling to find “my people.”
Hi there!
I’m sorry to hear that you’re struggling - homesickness was a huge part of my first semester at college, and so I empathize with your situation. Transitioning to college and living away from home for the first time is no small thing, and so it’s perfectly normal to find it difficult.
I would encourage you to put yourself out there in your house and classes as much as you feel able to. It’s tough, but leaving your comfort zone, even in small ways, can do wonders for your social life and general wellbeing. For me, I spent a lot of time in my house living room to get to know my housemates and start feeling like my house was more of a home. Joining clubs or starting study groups with classmates can also help.
If the struggle continues, there are a bunch of resources to support you. Your house council members or house Res Life staff are there to hear your concerns and point you to resources that can make the transition a little easier. Counseling Services can also help with loneliness and interpersonal skills, and I believe they’re covered by most insurances. For now, be patient and kind to yourself. It can take a little while to settle in for a lot of people (it definitely did for me!). I talk more about my experience with homesickness in this post, so feel free to check it out if you think it’ll help. Best of luck! I got through it, so I’m sure you can too.
-Emma ‘20
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Questions from a high school student
How many majors and minors can a student take? What special tradition does Smith have? Is printing for free?
I plan to major in education and anthropology in the future. Could you please tell me a little bit about what the class is like at Smith?
- Emma ‘20
Hi there!
According to the Smith Registrar, you can have “two purely academic programs (major, minor,or certificate)” on your transcript. This means you can double major OR have a major and a minor, but cannot have a double major AND an official minor (although nothing would stop you from completing the requirements and slipping it on your resume…). Smith also offers Concentrations that focus on practical experience, so you can add a concentration onto any of the other combinations. For example: a combination of a Sociology major, Study of Women and Gender minor, and the concentration in Community Engagement and Social Change would be officially recognised by Smith (but you can mix and match departments as much as you please!).
Smith has a whole ton of both school-wide and house-specific traditions! My favorites are Mountain Day (a spontaneous day of cancelled classes and Fall fun), Otelia Cromwell Day (where we celebrate the legacy of Smith’s first African American graduate), and house tea!
As for printing: Smith gives us $5 worth of free printing a year. After that, printing costs $0.03 per black and white page, which actually just got reduced after student demands for free printing - I bet we’ll be able to print for free in the next few years!
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A Day in the Life of a Smith Senior: Wednesday 11/06
(Photo: The path between Seelye and Hatfield Halls, the route I take several times a day to get from my house to class. The chalk at the bottom oh the photo reads “EXPOSE THE TRUTH,” advertising an event at the Campus Center that I went to that afternoon... details below!)
Wednesdays are one of my busier days: with a 3-hour seminar, a work shift, and a dance rehearsal pretty much back-to-back, I am running around campus way more than I am on other days. For that reason, they are a great insight into all the things that go on during the week at Smith! Here’s what a pretty typical, if hectic, day looks like as a Smith Senior.
8:30am: Breakfast.
I eat breakfast at Hubbard Dining Hall literally every single day: I can’t get enough of those baked goods! Hubbard serves continental breakfast until 11am on weekdays, so it gives me the chance to take my time and chat with friends before rushing off to start my day.
9:25am - 12pm: SOC 340: Writing about Inequality, Calderwood Public Writing Seminar.
Calderwood seminars are “laps around the major” -- the class is built on taking sociological concepts and applying them to places where structural inequality appears in pop culture, politics, and our own lives. There is a writing assignment due every week, so I am learning how to write, redraft, and edit work really quickly! Although I am not a sociology major, I managed to get into the class by talking with the professor about my experience in the sociology and women and gender studies departments, and I’m really glad I ended up able to take the class this semester; public writing is so important, especially for an English major!
12pm - 12:45pm: Lunch
12:45pm - 1:45pm: Head to Work!
This year, I am continuing my role as a Jandon Student Fellow at Smith’s Jandon Center for Community Engagement. As the Data and Administration Fellow, I am in charge of all the databases that the center uses, and am also involved with publicity and volunteer trainings. I’ve worked here since my sophomore year, and I’ll definitely miss it when I graduate!
1:45pm - 2:45pm: Take a break; do some reading.
My schedule this semester has a bunch of little hour-long breaks between classes, which means I have plenty of time to go over notes and readings (or even just relax and watch Buzzfeed videos, my favorite form of self care).
2:45pm - 4pm: ENG 299: Literary Research Methods
I took this class because it is a really great complement to my senior thesis work (more on that in this post) - as well as getting to grips with literary theory in a more general sense, we spend a lot of time fine-tuning and discussing our own projects. It’s so helpful to have that solidarity and collaboration during an otherwise independent endeavor!
4:20pm - 6:15pm: “Exposing the Truth: Smith College and the N-Word”
This was an incredibly powerful and important one-off event organized by a group of Smith students of color to raise awareness and solidarity about the n-word -- racism more generally -- on campus. The description of the event written by the students reads:
“The purpose of this event is to raise the consciousness of faculty and students that this is a major issue that should no longer be ignored. As other people move about their day, their normal thought processes will be disrupted and our struggles, pain, and resilience will suddenly move to the forefront of the community's consciousness.”
I’m so grateful for and inspired by the work that the organizers put into this event. Hearing such personal stories from my peers was a reminder that there is so much work to be done, even at a small, pretty liberal place like Smith.
6:15pm: Dinner
7pm - 9pm: Celebrations Dance Company Rehearsals
With our first performance of the year just around the corner, rehearsals are getting even more energizing and productive! Stay tuned to hear about ourQuad Celebration routine...
9pm: Home, shower, bed!
And there you have it! I love my schedule this year - apart from my once-a-week 9am, I have a lot of time in the morning and throughout the day to work at my own pace, and I’ve found a routine that really works for me. Let me know if you have any questions about what else I get up to during my week!
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“As a woman I have no country. As a woman I want no country.”
—Virginia Woolf, Three Guineas
“I was made for another planet altogether.”
—Simone de Beauvoir, The Woman Destroyed
“(I-woman, escapee)”
—Hélène Cixous, The Laugh of the Medusa
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🚨NEW COFFEE SHOP ALERT🚨
(Photo: the outside and inside view of Familiars Tea & Coffee, including their seasonal menu!)
Joining Woodstar, Haymarket, and The Roost, is Familiars Tea & Coffee, the newest of downtown Northmpton’s cute and cosy coffee shops! Familiars actually opened last semester, but I went for the first time this weekend after being off campus last Spring - I’d heard rave reviews of the Chaider, all of which turned out to be completely accurate.
She’s a little further from campus than the likes of Woodstar, but definitely worth the couple of extra minutes walking even for the aesthetic alone: where else can you spend the afternoon in a 1930′s train car for the price of a cup of coffee? The drinks, by the way, are excellent. After trying the honey and cinnamon latte, I have high hopes for the winter seasonal options.
Coffee shop culture is one of my favorite parts of Smith. There are so many student-friendly (and bank account friendly!) places to go to take a break from the on-campus study spots. 10/10 would recommend!
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