lizzie's life at smith

hey!! I’m lizzie (she/her) a member of the Smith College class of 2022 living in Morrow House! I’m intended English/government major. I’m coming to Northampton from Dallas, TX! Feel free to message me if you have any questions about Smith!

[lizatsmith]

Friday night was one of the biggest events at Smith, Night At Your Museum! It’s a fun night at the Smith College Museum of Art featuring music, food, and art! Everyone gets really dressed up and just runs around, taking pictures and appreciating art! It was a really fun night! 

[lizatsmith]

My First Semester Classes!

It’s been a hectic two weeks since classes started! I thought now would be a good time to finally share the courses I’m taking this semester!

1. French 101: Accelerated Beginning French

This is my first class of the day almost every day. And while I am not a morning person, I actually don’t mind having a 9am! It ensures that I’m up and productive every morning, which I’ve found to be pretty helpful!

2. First Year Seminar 185: Style Matters: The Power of Aesthetics in Italian Cinema

This was not my first choice FYS, and while I was originally not very excited about it, I’m actually really glad I’m taking it! I don’t think I would’ve taken a film class if it wasn’t for this class. It’s a really interesting course and I’m actually quite enjoying the films we’re watching! It’s also a nice change to go from analyzing literature (something I’m familiar and comfortable with) to analyzing films, which is out of my comfort zone. Overall, I’m really glad that I ended up in this class!

3. Sociology 101: Introduction to Sociology

I knew going into this semester that I wanted to take some sort of social science class, but I was torn between SWAG and Sociology. I ended up taking a sociology class, and I’m so glad I did because I’m really enjoying it. 

4. Government 100: Introduction to Political Thinking

As an intended government major, it makes sense to be taking the first class of the government major this semester. I’m actually quite enjoying this class. It’s definitely a lot of work and a lot of reading, but I think the discussions that we have in class around the challenging material are really interesting! There’s also quite a few people from my house in my class, so that’s an added bonus! 

Overall, I’m really happy with my classes this semester and I’m excited to continue to delve deeper into these topics!

[lizatsmith]

Housing Assignments!

Yesterday, the class of 2022 finally received our much-anticipated housing assignments! Although most of us already knew our houses, it was exciting to get confirmation! I’ll be in a double in Morrow House this year, which is in the quad!

Morrow is the house on the right!

It all feels so real now. Only 30 days to go!!

[smitten-smithie-blog]

Tips For College Tours

Since it’s college-tour season, I thought I’d give some of my tried-and-true tricks to navigating campus tours! I absolutely love college tours- hopefully you’ll enjoy your college trips as much as I did.

For context, these are the schools I visited:

-Smith

-Vassar

-Northeastern

-Boston University

-Emerson

-Harvard

-UCLA

-UCSD

-UCSB

-Scripps

-Pomona

-Berkeley

-Stanford

1. Try to visit different “types” of school- I was lucky to be able to visit such a wide range of schools. If you have the opportunity, I would highly recommend visiting a variety of colleges. Even if you’re dead set on attending a liberal arts college, touring a larger state school could be useful in terms of context, or to compare to other schools (or you may end up falling in love!).

2. Spend time exploring the town- Hopefully you won’t be spending all your time on campus! Colleges with thriving towns always get an extra point from me. Before I knew I was going to apply ED to Smith, UCSD was my top choice- all because of a cute ice cream shop nearby!

3. Check out all of the facilities- Make sure to check out everything from dorms to libraries to bathrooms. If you’re going to spend 4 years at that campus, you should feel comfortable throughout various areas of the college.

4. Ask questions- I’m not going to lie, chatting with your tour guide might feel a bit embarrassing, but that is what they’re there for! If you have questions, speak up.

5. Bring water and sunscreen- Hydration is a necessity! Snacks can also be nice. And make sure to bring sunscreen, especially to summertime tours.

6. Wear comfortable shoes- On our Stanford tour, my mom made the mistake of wearing high heels. Make sure to wear shoes you’re comfortable walking in for a long period of time.

7. Try to get the vibe of students- At UCSB, I really could not see myself fitting in with a majority of the student body. That was one of a few reasons why I didn’t end up applying.

8. …Try to get a campus vibe in general- If you’re not feeling a school, that is totally normal! I got onto the campuses of two schools in particular (Stanford and Vassar) and knew they weren’t for me right away. Admitting that you aren’t feeling a school will ultimately help you narrow your college application list.

And of course, have fun! While the college touring experience may seem intimidating, make the most of it.

[lizatsmith]

Graduation!!

I’m officially a high school graduate! I graduated on Friday, June 1st and I’m now excitedly counting down the days till Smith!! (89!)

(Me and my twin brother after our graduation!)

[lizatsmith]

Why I Chose Smith

My journey to choosing Smith was a relatively long one. Smith was on my list of colleges I was applying to, but I hadn’t really given it much thought. I was, at this point, still totally in love with another school. However, after getting deferred ED1 from that school, I started considering my other options more seriously.

After getting the opportunity to visit and interview over the winter break of my senior year, I left campus with a pretty confident feeling that Smith was the right choice for me. So what factored into that decision?

The community. The first thing I noticed at Smith that was different from other colleges I was looking at was the true sense of community that was present at Smith. Some other schools of a similar rigor seemed a lot colder and more competitive, but from the first person I talked to on Smith’s campus, I was struck by the welcoming and inclusive environment at Smith.

The amazing academics. I was, first and foremost, going to college for an education, and because I poured endlessly over the course catalog, I was actually excited about all of the classes Smith had to offer. And, the open curriculum was extremely appealing to me, because I have so many different academic interests and Smith was one of the only institutions that would truly let me be free in exploring them.

The wealth of opportunities available. One of the things I learned about on my visit to Smith was Praxis. Praxis is a stipend afforded to every Smith student to do an unpaid internship during their time at Smith. When I learned about this, I was kind of amazed. Smith really wants its students to succeed and get as much experience in their desired field as possible.

The location. I loved Northampton when I visited. It had a sort of New England small town feel, but not so small that it felt suffocating. Also, the five college consortium is an awesome advantage at Smith, and will allow for exploring other areas of Pioneer Valley and meeting tons of new people. Also, a lot of my relatives live in Connecticut, and at Smith I’m only about an hour away from all of them, which is great!

Feel free to message me if you have any more questions about why I chose Smith!

[lizatsmith]

hey y’all!! I’m lizzie (she/her), and I’m from right outside of Dallas, TX. I have sooo many academic interests, including English, government, psychology, sociology, study of women and gender and history! I’m so excited to be able to pursue all these academic interests and more at Smith. I have three dogs who I love and am going to miss very much, I’m a huge reader, and am blasting Taylor Swift a good 75% of the time. I’m so excited to start my smith journey!!