#rhys.exe

[curlyqkay-archived]

I typically don't upload full body selfies at all but I hot my first crop top in today so yay? I loathe my body so I personally think these all look gross as hell but y'know.

They/Them please!

[xxkandixxkidsxx]

My newest OC I bought! I'm trying to think of a name but she's a furby! And I love her very much. My art is on the left, the original creators is on the right!

[rhysatsmith]

hi! I am an ED 2025 student and I really want to double major in Computer Science and maybe Gov (or business its undecided ahaha but I know I wanna do comp sci!) Could you please give some insight on the Computer Science major at smith? Is it hard to manage with other majors and is there anything you should know before starting the major? Thank you!

Hi!

First off, congrats on getting into & choosing Smith! Second off, I’ll have to say that Smith doesn’t exactly have a business major? There are ways to get involved with business and entrepreneurship and UMass, one of the colleges in the 5 College Consortium, is pretty well-known for business! I think we might also offer a Certificate in the field, but don’t quote me on that.

In more general terms, there’s no need to put pressure on yourself in deciding on a major, especially before you’ve started college! But also, yes, I can give as much insight into the CS major as I can! Personally, I am a Computer Science major and an English major, and I’ve found that CS paired with a Humanities/non-STEM major works pretty well in terms of workload and diversity in assignments. However, if you choose to go the way of interweaving two STEM majors, there’s also some really cool aspects of that: some of the classes overlap, and there’s a lot of interesting higher-level classes you can take that combine, like, Biology and CS or something like that!

In terms of things to know before starting the major, I’d probably advise you to plan to take a lot of your junior & senior year classes at UMass especially if you want to take several courses on one topic (robotics, AI, etc) - no worries though, that means access to better dining!

For anything else, feel free to submit another question anytime! Or reply to this post. Always down to talk heh :D

Rhys xx

[rhysatsmith]

First Week Of Classes | Spring 2021

Hi y’all!

I just wrote out basically the entirety of this post, and then refreshed the page by instinct and lost everything. Lesson learned: save your posts as drafts consistently. Here we go again!

I’ve noticed a few more of you around here since my last post, and whether you’re current/prospective/not Smithies, I’d love to hear from y’all! My ask box is always open, same with my PMs. Like many of us, I’ll take almost any form of human interaction during these dystopian times.

Anyway, classes! Today is the Monday of my second week of classes, and I realized I hadn’t made a post about my first week of classes! Important context before I get there, though, is that so far throughout this pandemic, I haven’t really been able to just sit down and focus on my classes; there was always something else more urgent, whether it be Trump trying to deport all international students (a scare that happened twice over the summer!), me coming out to my parents, or dealing with some pretty terrible personal stuff towards the end of 2020.

I’m not saying this as an ‘oh my life is SO hard’ but as a way to show the reasons for which I was feeling like I was slipping on my academics. And so, I knew that going into my fourth Smith semester (that feels unreal to type, woah), I wanted/needed to change something, for my own mental stability.

For me, this ended up being a commitment to attending as many classes as possible (progress update: I’ve only slept through two morning classes! working on it), leaving my camera on for more than 95% of the time, as well as participating in all the ways I can: answering questions as often as possible, being active in Slack, Piazza, etc.

Something I’ve found REALLY helpful in the process has been something that I’ve personally known about for ages: the pomodoro technique (work cycles of 25 minutes followed by 5 minute breaks, and no more than 4 sessions consecutively). I haven’t really used this method previously because I had the skewed belief that my Romanian high school education cultivated in me: you just need to hammer away at a task, not getting up from your desk, until it’s done. Pair that with my previously untreated ADHD, and it suddenly makes sense why I was struggling (other than the whole, y’know, pandemic thing or whatever).

The most pressing deadline I have at the moment is a video project for Smith’s My Global Story event. It was technically due yesterday, but I was thankfully able to get an extension because I wasn’t quite done with it. I might upload it either here or on YouTube afterwards, but that’s a problem for future me to figure out.

Lastly, one thing I was considering recently is starting the 100 days of productivity challenge; I wouldn’t be aiming to do it every single day for the next 100 days, but to have it finished by the end of the calendar year. Maybe COVID will be done by then, huh?

Rhys (he/they) xx

[rhysatsmith]

hi! i was accepted to smith for the class of '24, very exciting:) stumbled across ur blog & wanted to ask abt ur experience at smith so far! ill also be an international student, so im curious abt ur perspective coming into smith as a first year. how was getting situated? is it hard to get into the swing of things? just whatever thoughts (good & bad) u've had abt your months there.. id love to hear!!

Helloooooo!!

I think this one’s been sitting here awhile so, sorry whoever sent this! Didn’t get the notification for some reason? Anyways, getting to answering the actual question: my experience so far has been mostly positive! Getting situated was easy, but that’s more so for personal reasons if that makes sense? I really wanted to get out of my country & that conservative environment so anywhere not-there was good for me.

Getting into the swings of things... is a journey. I wouldn’t say it’s either hard or easy - it definitely takes time, and there’s ups and downs along the way. One day it’ll feel like you’ve immediately belonged and others, that no one likes you and you’re alone in the world. Most likely outcome is that neither of these will happen, but that you’ll find your people that make you feel like home.

One thing I’m still not over though? The food. Food in the US just tastes different - bad different, almost like you’re tasting said food in 144p. I’ve had a couple of international friends confirm this for me, but even Snickers bars and fast food tastes... less.

But yeah, again, it’s been mostly fun! Quarantine’s made it less fun, and I can’t wait for time to become real again, but it’s been way better than it would’ve been if I weren’t here!

Rhys xx

[rhysatsmith]

reflections on the past // looking forward towards the future

hi. i’m writing this on a greyhound on my way to northampton, giddy with excitement and somehow not incredibly tired despite it being 5:35am and my only getting one hour of sleep last night.

the clouds and colours in the sky are breathtaking - my iphone camera cannot even attempt to take a picture of it, but i tried anyway. i have my favorite band playing in my earbuds, and i just bid goodbye to one of the most beautiful cities i’ve ever been in, new york. yeah.

as such, i decided writing up a post would be a good and productive use of my time, seeing as i have a whole five hours of it.

i’m headed to ISP, the international student preorientation, and i don’t think i could be more excited than i am right now. looking back on the stress of the SATs and the application process and all of the other exams that went into my admission, i can wholeheartedly say all of it was worth it, if only for this one moment of peace.

it’s kind of beautiful, how i’ll be there before most of the school. i’ll get to know some of the house before others, and i’ll already be well acquainted to the campus by the time my classmates get there.

oh! i made friends. i met up with some fellow fresher smithies while in new york, and it was a blast! the adventurous type, filled with sudden rain striking and roaming the city streets in search of ikea and bubble tea.

on the matter of the very short-term future, i should be going dorm shopping for the essentials this afternoon, and i am so genuinely excited about getting to choose what my room will look like for the next four years, it’s insane.

on the matter of the rather long-term, i can say i am not anxious one bit. i am ready to head into this new experience, make new friends, keep the good in the past and learn from the bad.

rhys, out xx

[i’ll go listen to bastille some more now]

[rhysatsmith]

first college classes

this one’s pretty interesting, especially since i’ve been dreaming of taking college classes ever since freshman year of high school. i’ve just gone through the fourth day of classes and i’ve gone through quite some thoughts.

. initial opinions .

i have to admit, i was freaked out. especially as an international student, everything was new: the concept of a syllabus, the difficulty, the weird mixture of freedom and workload, it was a lot to adjust to. some of my teachers seemed to have unrealistically high expectations, and i just genuinely felt like i was behind even in my intro classes, even when we hadn’t even gone through any course material.

. second take .

this is where i was able to take a breath of fresh air. a bit more adjusted to the work-school-friends balance and having gone through a couple of assignments, i was able to remind myself that i’m taking all of my classes because the class subjects deeply interest me. as soon as that was out of the way, it wasn’t long until anxiety gave way to excitement, and i still don’t quite know how that happened. i am no longer as focused on what i don’t know, but on all the interesting things i get the chance to study.

[rhysatsmith]

the semester picks up

it feels like i’m in that weird place of not yet getting 100% used to being in college, but still doing my best to keep up with assignments, quizzes, and assignments.

it’s definitely a challenge to balance out work, friends, and school, but i’ve been able to manage it thus far. i see progress in some of my classes, and in others i feel like i will never be able to keep up, but everyone around me says that’s normal, so i’m just trying to do my best and feel at peace with that.

i’ve been told it’s an inherent smithie trait to attempt to do everything all at once, but that it’s really important to also take care of yourself. i’m still working on that second part. at least i’m seeing progress with it!

excited for what’s to come,

rhys