Lily & Smith

Mozart enthusiast, lover of sauces, and an anxious student living in Gillett.

[lilyandsmith]

hey hi i'm going to smith too!! :D

Hey rad! I'm living in Gillett. See you there!

[lilyandsmith]

countdown

[smithbysmithies]

What are the available libraries at Smith this year since Neilson is under renovation?

Hi! Our available libraries are Josten (in Mendenhall), Hillyer, and Young (in Bass Hall). Young is serving as our main library now that Neilson is being renovated. Lots of areas are being repurposed into study spaces to make up for this.

Iris ‘20

[produitivity]

my college dorm packing list:

the school year’s winding down here, and I know a lot of you are about to start your first year of college. sometimes, this involves moving into a dorm, and there are so many dorm packing lists out there that tell you about so many “”necessities.”” this really easily gets overwhelming, so here’s the list of things that I have in my dorm right now that I really appreciate having!

bedding:

two sets of sheets - make sure they’re the right size for the bed (often dorm beds are twin xl). i got two sets which included a pillow case, fitted sheet, and regular sheet. sometimes, the ‘college’ sets have pockets on the sides of the fitted sheets which can be super useful, esp if you decide to loft your bed!

pillows - when I was buying dorm stuff, i had the designer dorm room in mind (which is the goal for a lot of people when shopping, but it’s not super easy to attain. just stick to what works for u!). this, for me, involved pillows. i have 2 normal pillows (either i sleep on both or i alternate them out so no one of them gets too flat), and a smaller, soft decor pillow (i use this mostly to block up the space between the bed and the wall so my other pillows don’t fall off when i use them as a backrest haha), and a fourth, white fluffy square pillow (this one just looked cute, but i ended up using it as a desk chair cushion bc my chair didn’t come with one, it’s been a lifesaver!!)

comforter (tbh it’s always so hot in my dorm room that i hardly use this, and mostly just stick to the sheets haha, but it’s definitely important in winter)

extra blankets - just a couple lighter ones i use when i just wanna curl up or when i don’t need something as heavy as a comforter

foam mattress pad - !!!!! cannot stress this one enough. it makes my bed so comfortable. my dorm bed is now nicer than my home bed. i 100% recommend getting one of these (and make sure its the thick sheet of foam, not those weird cloth ones that make you feel weird when you touch it haha)

desk:

desk chair cushion (mentioned above) - wait until you see your room for this one, your desk chair might already have a cushion. if it doesn’t, get something to use as one. your butt will thank you, and it’ll make it so much easier to study. (also some people i know wanted to get their own desk chair - the rolly cushy kind - so if that’s what you want, go for it!)

desk lamp! - if you’re like me, you’ll stay up hours later than your roommate, and you need to be able to see. the kind i got was actually given away free from my uni, but it has usb ports and 3 different levels of intensity for the light itself, so it’s really nice!

cups/pen holders - stay organized. i brought a mug for this and ended up getting a few free cups at giveaways, and vases from flowers and things like that that I use to hold the pens on my desk.

misc desk organizers - to keep your study space put together and to keep all your stuff in a decent place (it’s so easy to lose things, even in such a small space)

closet/clothes storage:

hangers - i just got a couple packages (about 24 total i think?) which ended up being the perfect amount for me

sweater organizer shelves thing - these are everywhere at stores for dorm shopping. it’s basically a stack of box shelves. they also have drawers you can get for them, but i don’t have any of those. i just stuff my sweaters/cardigans/sweatshirts/extra sheets in there, it’s nice and saves a lot of closet space!

shower/hygiene supplies:

towels - i got 4 towels, just so i don’t have to do laundry as often. it ended up being a good amount for me. also a lot of people i know have washcloths, which wasn’t something i thought about but is a good idea if you use them!

shower caddy - a necessity! i use one of the bag ones, instead of the plastic ones, and i’ve heard a lot of people with the hard plastic ones wishing they had the mesh bag type (but obvs u do u)

dry shampoo - super useful for when you didn’t get a chance to shower and want to at least try to look a bit more cleaned up

laundry detergent - pretty straightforward. also hamper/laundry bag/dryer sheets/whatever else you need to get ur clothes clean (also stock up on quarters if you have to pay per load)

misc:

hobby supplies - i do a lot of crocheting/brush lettering/reading, whatever your hobbies are, you’ll wanna do them, so keep stuff in your room for it

wall calendar/white board calendar - useful for planning and remembering important dates (also i use this to keep up w what my roomie has going on bc we don’t talk about that sorta thing a whole lot but it’s nice to know when she’ll be back/out of the room/whatever)

whiteboard - i have a bigger wall mounted one, but i use it for assignment/meeting reminders and also as a study tool for before exams. plus it’s fun to doodle on when i really don’t feel like doing anything  haha

string lights - sure, they’re a classic dorm cute thing, but they’re also useful when you want just enough light to see, but not enough to keep your roommate up or be distracting. i use mine all the time, plus it makes the room feel more warm and homey!

i also have a 10 foot long phone charger which is my heart and soul i love it sm it’s so useful bc i plug it in under my bed in the corner and not only reaches up to my bed, but also over to my desk. 10/10 would recommend.

[smithbysmithies]

Hello everyone! So I was recently accepted to Smith and I am incredibly excited because I know how wonderful of a school Smith is. The only hesitation I find myself having about attending Smith is the fact that it is an all-girl's school. I have attended co-ed schools for my entire life and a large portion of my friend group is male, so I am concerned about my ability to adjust to an all-girl's campus. Does anyone have any advice about how I should make my decision?

Congratulations on your acceptance! We’re so excited that you’re excited :)

A lot of people (myself included) had similar feelings to you before attending Smith. Some of my very best friends from back home are guys, and going to a women’s college hasn’t changed how much I value my relationships with them. However, I’ve found that being around (mostly) women all the time has been just as valuable for so many reasons, so here are a few things that are helpful to keep in mind when considering from co-ed to a women’s college:

Being around such supportive, empowered, smart women has done wonders for my self-esteem. Compared to last year when I was at a co-ed high school, I’ve definitely noticed a difference in how much I speak up in class, how often I do/say/wear what I want without as much hesitation, how much space I’m allowed to take up, how often I ask for help without feeling inadequate, etc. etc. Society being the way it is, it’s not often that women get to have these experiences so easily and so often.

And not all Smithies are women! On a day-to-day basis, you will interact with guys from the other colleges in the consortium, guys spending a year at Smith from abroad, trans guys, guys from Northampton, and people of a variety of genders. But if that’s not enough, after your first semester at Smith you can hop on the PVTA (the free bus that goes to the other colleges) and take a class at UMass, Amherst, or Hampshire to meet new people.

Honestly, once you get here it’s easy to forget that you go to a majority-gender school. The main thing I notice about the people I interact with is their confidence, intelligence, and kindness, rather than the fact that they’re more often than not women.

There are so many more things that I could say (and I’m sure the other bloggers have things to add), but I’ll leave off with something I was told by a Smith alum a few years ago that stuck with me during the college application process: “if you’re worried about women’s colleges because you prefer the company of men, you haven’t met the right women yet”. This is something I’ve definitely found to be true.

Emma ‘20

[lilyandsmith]

From Vandy to Smith: A Confused High School Junior’s Journey

If you had asked me in the spring of my junior year of high school where I wanted to go to college, I would have said Vanderbilt. 100% Vanderbilt. Smith wasn't even on my list. 

 I, like many other high school kids, wanted to get as far away from my incredibly small and narrow minded hometown. Vanderbilt was pretty, prestigious, and perfectly far enough away from home. Which is exactly what I thought I wanted. 

 After actually visiting Vandy, I quickly decided it was not for me. This brought me back to square one. I needed to find a college that was closer to home, more liberal, and with a more updated music program than Vanderbilt. I decided to start looking at schools around my area. I knew that Western Mass had a lot of nice schools, I just didn't know anything about them.

 Somehow I found out about Smith from researching Mount Holyoke, which was in fact, on my list. I still wasn’t really sold on Smith yet. I hadn’t visited the campus, I didn’t know what kind of music program they had, I didn’t even know of anyone who had gone to Smith. This all changed in early June of 2016, when my school had its awards night.

 I somehow walked away with the Smith Book Award, which was, to my surprise, an actual book. It was Gloria Steinem’s new book, “My Life on the Road.” Much to my parents dismay, I had no idea who Gloria Steinem was, or what she did. Well I got schooled real quick.

After winning the award I decided ‘hey, maybe I should check out Smith?’ Turns out, that was a great decision because here I am today. I instantly fell in love with the campus and what it had to offer. I couldn’t be happier with my choice.

[lilyandsmith]

Introduction

Hey there! My name is Lily and I’m an incoming first year at Smith College. I’m excited but also pretty terrified but I guess that’s normal.

I’m living in Gillett House, and I plan on majoring in music.

We’ll see how this goes.