Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.
Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.
TIMESTAMPS
The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20160812015155/http://smithbysmithies.tumblr.com:80/
When I was a sophomore in high school, I knew that what I wanted to do after college was take a gap year. It made my mom (and even more so my great uncle) nervous. I was one of those kids who had been raised to go to college - what if a year off meant I would never go?
I knew I would benefit from a year off. I was getting burned out, and I wanted time to learn just to learn, to discover new things, to travel, to work, to grow and explore and live on my terms, without homework or exterior structures. Just like most of my friends, I applied to colleges my senior year. Unlike most of them, when I sent in my deposit to my school of choice (Smith), I deferred my admission. This was perfect, because it guaranteed me a spot for the next fall, which eased everyone’s nerves. (Check out Smith’s deferral deadline and policy here)!
It wasn’t too common an idea in the U.S. when I deferred my admission to Smith. Only six kids from my graduating class of over 500 opted for a gap year. Three years later, my brothers class had about 20 kids take gap years. Now, the number continues to increase, thanks to a widening spread of programs, good press, college interest, and prominent gap year takers - Malia Obama, anyone?
Gap years are often portrayed as being expensive and “bougie” year long trips or party opportunities (like the pretentious Brit in this music video), but they are not all that way: other (more affordable, more independent) options include americorp, WWOOF, work, or travel on your own! I’m a planner, and I wanted to be in charge of my own time and money, to learn how to keep a budget, and to be free to travel where I wanted without a schedule!
During my year off, I did two months of volunteer work with Amigos de las Americas, worked as a (more than) full time nanny for six months at home in Colorado, and than traveled for five months in Latin America with my dear friend Paige. No “gap year” program necessary. And I was motivated and focused when I got to Smith a year later - best decision I’ve ever made!
I’m happy to answer any questions about my year off - and there are good tips for an affordable gap year here too!
When my friends and I visited campus yesterday, the first stop we made was at the Lyman Conservatory. It was in the mid-nineties so we didn’t get to spend too much time there before we all started to overheat.
My friends were both impressed by the extent of the gardens and the variety of plants inside. Everything is so lush and green in there, which is a nice contrast to drought-ridden Massachusetts! Across the road, Paradise Pond was almost completely dried up.
The conservatory is one of my favorite spots that I’ve found on campus because it feels like pressing pause on the outside world. It’s calming to be in such a peaceful, thriving place!
Two of my friends and I drove out to Northampton on a whim this morning and spent a few hours in town and on campus. We did a loop around Smith so I could show them around, then went back into town.
We started at Greene Hall and passed the Student Center where people were meeting for lunch. Both of my friends are cat enthusiasts and were taken with Chapin’s banner out front, painted with “Le Chapin Noir”. There were a few groups sitting on the lawn in the shade of the trees, which looked nice in the heat.
From there, we walked up towards Admissions and down the road to the Lyman Conservatory (I have a separate post about that!) where we spent a while exploring the different rooms. Eventually it got too humid for us, though, so we headed out towards Green Street.
Just as we were coming upon Lanning Fountain, we saw a baby bunny eating leaves off of one of the plants in the gardens! The little guy couldn’t have been longer than my hand, and he froze as soon as he saw us, then hopped away.
As we passed by, my friend Fiona took a picture of me under the Clark sign!
We passed through the houses of Green Street (where I’ll hopefully be living) and walked back into Northampton. It may not have been a complete tour of campus, but we got to see the beauty of Smith all the same.
About 2 days after I returned to my hometown, Jackson, New Jersey, I got on an 8 hour flight to Berlin, Germany to study abroad. We spent 4 weeks taking classes and one week working on our final projects. My concentration for the program was Dance but I was living and working with people from many different colleges where were either fellow dancers, a photographer, or visual artists. Each group of artists had a class in their respective art and then we all came together for a German History Class on Mondays and Wednesdays. The women in the program stayed in the NYU Berlin dorms which are located near Checkpoint Charlie and the men stayed in an Airbnb nearby. The rooms were beautiful. Since there were 10 women in the program we split into one 3 person apartment and one 7 person apartment and by chance I managed to get the single room in the 3 person apartment with 2 lovely rising seniors from Sarah Lawrence College.
German History
In the German History Class, we had a seminar with a professor from Sarah Lawrence College. The material we covered was from 1871-the present so we divided it into 4 units and covered a different part of German History each week. With each unit we then visited a lot of sites in Berlin that were involved with the time period we covered. Going on these various trips made realize one of the things I love the most about which is how there are so many layers of history throughout Berlin. some of the sites we visited included the Mauerpark/ Berlin Wall Park Memorial and Documentation Center, Topography of Terror (a free museum that details the history and horrors of Nazi Germany that is located in the site where the Gestapo and the SS had their headquaters), the Stasi Prison (a Cold War Prison that was used by the GDR), Tempelhof Airport (an airport that was important during the Berlin Airlift during the Cold War and currently houses Syrian refugees), and the Holocaust Memorial (The Memorial to the Murdered Jewish People of Europe) and Counter memorials, which are memorials that are for the other groups of people that were persecuted and killed during the Holocaust because it was decided that the Holocaust Memorial would only be a memorial to the Jewish people murdered under the Nazi Regime (The Memorial to the Homosexuals Persecuted under the National Socialist Regime/Nazism, Memorial to the Sinti and Roma of Europe Murdered under the National Socialist Regime, and the Memorial to the People with Disabilities under the National Socialist Regime).
Dance
For my dance class, we had a morning Dance History Class and an afternoon Dance Practice Class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Dance History Class was taught by the Director of the Program, Jacalyn Carley, and stayed parallel with what we were learning in the German History class and covered how what was going on in Germany at any given point in history was impacting dance and the kind of choreographic work that was produced in Germany. This class took place took place in the Kunstlerhuas Bethanian / Mimecentrum (dance film archives) a dance archive that has a lot of amazing dance archival footage that we had access too during our entire time in Berlin. The Dance Practice Class consisted a warm up that consisted of improvisational and compositional exercises to get us thinking about our final projects. The last part of this class consisted of all of the dancers each individually going out into dance community in Berlin and taking Dance classes at different studios and get a feel for what dance is like in Germany. I began with a ballet class (because I wanted to start with something universal and familiar) and then branched out into contemporary, Gaga, tap, hiphop, contemporary ballet, and contemporary jazz. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip because it gave helped me build confidence in styles that I was familiar with and allowed me to branch out and try new styles of dance (or refresh my knowledge of styles that I have not done in years). On top of going to dance classes in Berlin we also went to art exhibits and live dance performances.
Excursions and Outings
After the second week of classes we all took an excursion to Wernigerode, Germany which is about 3 hours out side of Berlin. This town is absolutely beautiful and so many of the buildings looked like they were directly out of a fairy tale book. We took a 14 mile hike through the woods on the second day we were there and then on the last day we walked a distance up to the gorgeous castle. It was a nice way to relax after the first 2 packed weeks in the program. We also had various excursions that we did as a group to places like Potsdam and Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp (this was an optional day trip that I decided to go on).
Final Project
After the 4 weeks of classes was finished everyone in the program used the fifth and final week to put together their final projects. For the dancers, we were given a studio space to share that we had access to 24 hours a day so that we could choreograph our pieces. We would work on our pieces and then we would all come together at various point of the week, show what we had to the group and to Jacalyn and get feedback to continue working. Because we all had to share the space we would all schedule and coordinate who would use the space and at what time. In the times when I did not have the studio space, I would take a morning ballet class, work on the final for the dance history class that required us to go to the dance archive and look at one of 2 pieces and then write 2 essays, and one night I went to a panel discussion On Collaboration that was given by Nancy Stark Smith (one of the creators of Contact Improvisation) and Mike Vargas, who is a Musician/Lecturer in Dance Technique and Performance in Smith College’s Dance Department, who works closely with Nancy Stark Smith. It was great to see a familiar face from back home while I was in Berlin.
At the end of the week, everyone in the program presented what they created and what was amazing was that we all allowed for our experiences in Berlin to influence the art we made and everyone’s projects were so different. It was truly beautiful to see.
I loved the time I spent in Berlin, Germany so much and I really hope to be able to go back some day. There are alot of things I miss about Berlin. My time abroad really expanded my thinking and allowed me to become even more independent. It helped me become more confident in my dancing, in my academic work, and in my work as a choreographer.
(I’m going to make another post that has some pictures from my time in Berlin, Germany)
In the past week or so, two exciting Smith-related things have happened: I received my STRIDE research assignment and choose my orientation group.
The STRIDE Program (STudent Research In DEpartments) gives around 50 incoming first years a research scholarship of $20,000 annually + a $2,400 work stipend for their first and sophomore years. STRIDE scholars are paired with a professor with whom they do research for during first year and sophomore year. I’m proud to say that I am one of the recipients of this awesome scholarship.
I will be working with Professor Joyce Palmer-Fortune of the Physics Department on a project called Making Physics Real. The focus of this project is “how to make good observations of basic physical phenomenon – how to make them bigger if they are too small, faster if they are too slow, slower if they are too fast, or more effective if they are failing to challenge a prevailing misconception in basic physics.” The current project involves magnetic ring launchers. I have some physics research experience from my AP Physics C class in high school (my favorite class yet) working with cosmic ray detection, so this project is right up my alley. I am extremely excited to work on a project combining physics, engineering/design, and outreach! Feel free to ask me any questions about STRIDE, especially once I start my research in September!
Orientation, on the other hand, is a program designed for all incoming first years. We arrive about a week before the rest of the students to settle into campus before the hubbub of the year begins. During orientation, first years move into our houses, register for our fall semester classes, attend talks from faculty, go to group discussions with our housemates, explore campus, and perhaps most relevant: break off into our orientation groups for two days. The group I am in is AT I, a student lead hiking and backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail. I had really gotten my hopes of for getting into the rock climbing group, but it was already full by the time I signed up. Regardless, I love hiking and cannot wait for this awesome experience!
Just to refresh your memory from my previous post… I don’t believe in the idea of dream schools. I believe in the idea that finding a college that fits you is far more important. On the contrary, if the fit and the dream happen to coincide then that’s fantastic!
I made it known to my parents, guidance counselor, and teachers around my sophomore year that I was looking for an all women’s college that was close(ish) to home and academically rigorous. My saint of a ski coach/life coach/honors physics teacher/best friend’s dad mentioned to me that he had toured Smith with his daughter when she was looking at colleges and that it might be a good fit for me. I was eager to look into Smith because in the back of my mind I knew that my dream school wasn’t practical for me. I googled Smith and was immediately intrigued by the Women for the World campaign, the stellar list of notable alumni, the beautiful campus, and the amazing resources.
Smith soon made its way onto my list of colleges but nothing did it justice like the tour did. My utterly fantastic tour guide, Katie, showed my around campus and hooked me with her every word. My mom and I got in the car after and on our four and a half hour drive back to Maine, we couldn’t stop raving about how Smith seemed to be the perfect fit for me. Everything was a perfect fit for me: the workout facilities, the accessibility to professors, the housing system, the meal plan, the five college consortium, and many more attributes. There were two things that attracted me more than any others. Those are the people and the feel. The people at Smith were incredibly kind and patient. They really want what’s best for you and to make you comfortable. I have seen that through my every move at Smith this far. The feel is something that people always talk about as means of knowing you’re at the right college. I had that at Smith. Strolling through campus felt safe and like home. Coming from the country I loved the abundant flowers, trees, and lawns.
Smith is the best fit for me and I’m sure of it. It isn’t my “dream school” and I am glad now. I know that this is the place where I belong and where I should be for the next four years.
My favorite evening spot is The Roost. It’s a cafe that offers beer, wine, some specialty cocktails, breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as a full coffee bar/artisanal teas. If you don’t want a full sammich or plate, they have things like cheese boards, small snacks, and a la carte sides like mac n cheese <3
They also have an amazing selection of baked goods that are almost all gluten free! The carrot cake is killer. I first had it when I was in my first semester. A wizened senior who I am still buddies with passed on this wisdom to me. When I can’t afford carrot cake, I’ll go for a cheap beer and a round of hearthstone on my tablet. It’s a nice place to chill and contemplate the existential void while sipping a cold one and stomping my sister at our favorite video game (pictured above).
The wifi stops after 8pm so that people actually talk to each other (but you can totally steal wifi from the cafe next door or use xfinity public wifi if you or someone you know has a log in). If you don’t, The Roost has big sheets of coloring paper and a plethora of crayons usable by anyone. There are also a bunch of board games available to play while you sip your chai latte. My personal go to is Jenga, the game for competitive toddlers with superior fine motor skills (that’s me).
Best of all, it’s just a bike ride away downtown, or a walk if you don’t mind a nice 15 minute stroll (20 minutes from the quad).
Bask in its glory. *Sylvie for scale. It was a huge pretzel. BUT NO LONGER. Because we ate it. Mcladden’s runs trivia on Monday nights so we decided to give it a go. We got stomped, but we still had some great food. So I call it a victory.
Every year in Northampton, the Hot Chocolate Run for Safe Passage is held around the holiday season and lots of Smithies participate and/or come out to support the runners. There is a 5k run and a 3k walk, making this accessible to everyone. Runners and walkers are given hot chocolate at the end of the race. Seeing so many people participating in the Hot Chocolate Run to support Safe Passage was breathtaking.Safe Passage is an amazing non-profit agency dedicated to addressing domestic violence, and Northampton showed its support and sense of community with so many participants. Not only did many Smith students show up, President McCartney of Smith College also participated this past year! Here is a video of me and Leigh cheering for her. This is definitely one of the reasons I fell in love with Northampton and Smith College–the community is fantastic and unbelievably supportive.
