#sam-wil

[sam-wil]

Welcome to my blog!

Hello all!

My Name is Sa’mya and I am a new Smith by Smithies blogger! I am super excited to join the team and happy to be a Smithie :) Here are three things you should know about me:

1) I am from the Bay Area!

I was born and raised in the Bay Area and will rep Oakland til the day I die!!!! I am very enthusiastic about being from the bay because there is no other place in the world like it. Oakland is a melting pot of cultures and I love embracing every part of it. If you have any questions about moving across the country, adjusting to east coast weather, or anything about living pretty far from home be sure to reach out once I arrive on campus (hopefully lol)!

2) I work at Starbucks!

I have been a partner at Starbucks for a little over a year now and will continue to work at a store near campus in the fall! If you have any Starbucks related questions or questions about working while in college feel free to reach out! I can give more in depth answers to most questions when I transfer stores in September. 

3) I am a recent high school graduate!

After four long years of high school, I finally did it! I graduated from Holy Names High School in Oakland, CA. My high school was an all girls, Catholic, private, and extremely small (30 people in my graduating class) school. I think I’ll fit in great at Smith in regards to going to an all girls high school and being in smaller sized classes. Ask me what it’s like going to an all girls school! I will try and answer questions to the best of my ability, keeping in mind that college is very different than high school.

[sam-wil]

Smith’s fall plans

Today, Smith released plans for the fall 2020 school year. If you want to read over their entire COVID-19 Response Plan you can click this link which will take you to the plan. Here are a few main points that I summarized from the first three categories. 

Health & Safety

Everyone has to wear a face mask

Everyone must stay at least 6ft away from eachother other 

No off-campus guests/visitors are allowed on campus

Students may not travel more than 10 miles away from campus

Hand sanitizer and masks will be provided

There will be a daily symptoms checklist that each student will fill out 

Houses will be disinfected 2x a day, classrooms with be disinfected 5x a week 

Academic Planning

Teachers will decide if classes are in person or online

Most classes are going to offer both options

You can still take classes at any of the other five colleges as long as you do it online

All interterm classes will be online

First-years & Sophomores will be on campus from September 1-November 20, Juniors & Seniors will be on campus for the Spring Semester (unless a senior is graduating in January, they will arrive in the fall period)

You can apply to live on campus for the entire year if you have extraordinary circumstances 

Student Life

All students are going to have singles

We will arrive in mid to late August

Fall sports are being put on a hold

We will order all food through an app, with a maximum of three orders a day

All meals are takeout only

Housing will come out in early August

You can not be in anyone else’s room overnight, but you can visit friends in their room as long as you are 6ft away from each other 

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Overall, I’m pretty satisfied with the plan. I wish we could stay the entire school year (which we may be able to do if a vaccine comes out) but I’m now excited to know that I can spend more time with my family, friends, and boyfriend. I applied for a single so I’m super thrilled to start planning for dorm decorations now that I know I got a single. I’m not too enthusiastic about the online classes. I tend to get distracted easily during remote learning but we’ll see how things go!

[sam-wil]

As a POC, I'm worried heavily about what housing will be like. Has there been any incidents in any of the houses at Smith that I should be aware of? Are there any houses that you would recommend me stay away from to avoid racist or situations that could potentially be problematic? I know that there will always be some type of incident where ever I go but are there any POC friendly houses that would be recommended?

Hi! Thank you so much for reaching out. To be completely honest, I am not sure if I can fully answer your question as I am a first-year and have not been on campus yet ( I will be attending Smith Fall 2020). I do not know much about Smith housing but I recommend checking out housing on the main Smith blog and Instagram to get to know more about housing. 

If you are entering Smith this year, I recommend joining the Women of Color GroupMe to meet other POC.

[sam-wil]

Choosing classes

In this post I will describe from start to finish how I chose my classes for first semester!

1. The first step that I took was meeting with my liberal arts advisor and those in my advising group via zoom. During the meeting we were able to meet one another and discuss what it means to have a liberal arts advisor. We also had the oppurtunity to ask any questions that we had about online registration.

2.  After meeting with my advisor I browsed through Smith’s course search and looked for courses that seemed interesting to me. I also checked out rate my professor just to see what my potential professors would be like. Because this is my first year at Smith I wasn't too concerned about meeting any requirements or trying to take classes for a certain major because I have no idea what I want to major in! I also took my work schedule and time difference into consideration. I live on the west coast, so taking a 8am EST course was not ideal. I used the website Coursicle to help plan out my classes to make sure I had no overlapping classes. 

3. Next, I met with my advisor in an individual meeting. This was my final opportunity to ask questions, get my course registration number, and get to know my advisor a little better. I also told her which classes I was interested in taking and got her approval!

4. My last step was to sign up for classes! Registration for classes began in the morning for me since I’m on the west coast. It was a little stressful signing up for classes because everyone does it at the same time so I was competing with hundreds of people for a spot in the classes that I wanted. Luckily I was able to get all the classes that I wanted as shown below! 

Modern Africa, Intermediate Spanish, Introduction to Sociology, Fighting the Power: Black Protest and Politics Since 1970

I’m pretty excited about the classes I chose. I wanted to keep a somewhat light schedule as I still have work and other commitments.  I’ll be sure to do an update on how classes are going as I get deeper into the school year!

[sam-wil]

A change in Plans

As many of you may already know, Smith has changed their plans from in-person classes to remote learning. I was shocked by this news as it was announced pretty close to my departure date (I had just booked my flights). I am glad that I didn't buy dorm supplies yet but of course I am sad that I won’t be able to spend my first year as a Smithie on campus. I debated on whether or not I would defer but ultimately decided not to for a number of reasons. Fast forwarding to present time, a lot has happened! I met with my advisor,  signed up for classes (see the post after this one to see what classes I signed up for!), met my house mates, and began orientation. Overall, I’m going into the school year with a positive outlook on things as I start classes tomorrow!

[sam-wil]

I'm also going to smith (hopefully) Fall 2020. I've attended public co-ed schools all my life. What's it like going to an all girls' school?

Hey, thank you so much for your question! Here are my thoughts on attending an all girl’s school:

DISCLAIMER~ I am a straight female so I am only able to offer “a straight girl’s” pov.

Pros

Less distractions~ In my opinion middle school was pretty messy and drama filled; I think a lot of which stemmed from boy based drama. For example “Who's dating who?”, “Which girl do the guys like the most”, or guys trying to validate your looks based off of unrealistic beauty standards. You can definitely feel a change in vibes and in male masculinity between a co-ed school and an all girls’ school. I felt like there was less drama and more space to learn and connect with teachers without a “dominate male” in the room. You feel more comfortable speaking in class and are more likely to participate in discussion. 

More opportunities~ Women like to uplift other women. With that being said, a lot of really powerful and motivational women who have made extreme achievements in their lives tend to want to give back to other young women. At my old school, many opportunities were given to us simply for attending an all girls school. You will find that there are a lot of great opportunities that come with going to an all girls school. There are many small perks like getting to have an entire assembly dedicated to menstrual cycles, or planning month long in-depth activities for breast cancer awareness month. It really is the small things that add to the all girls advantage.

You are more yourself~This may sound cliche but going to an all school has made me more confident in myself and has helped me grow as a young woman. In middle school I remember having the urge to always try and impress boys, which is completely different than at a single gender school. In high school we would literally come to school looking like we just woke up (which I did a few times) and get no judgement at all. You can ask your friend for a pad or tampon and not feel awkward for doing so in front of everyone. I feel like more girls came to school ready to learn and to have fun instead of judging each other or creating drama. 

Cons

Strain on your love life~ Going to an all girls’ school definitely put a strain on my “love life”, as if I had one to begin with lol, but dating was a struggle. It’s obvious that since I wasn't around any guys I had no opportunity to really mingle. Luckily for me I met my boyfriend at a basketball game my junior year and we've been together ever since, but it did take me about three years to find him! I’m sure dating for others will be slightly easier in college since we are in the five college consortium, or if you are gay dating may be a little easier at Smith with it being all girls. But at the end of the day dating shouldn't be the ultimate deciding factor on where you go to school.

There can be some drama~ I personally did not experience the typical girl drama at my high school, but I know it can get a little messy (especially with everyones period syncing up, yes that really does happen). I wouldn't even really consider this a con. I guess I would just say that some people come into school with the mindset that girls are messy and all girls school is like a drama filled tv show. If you come in with that mindset you will probably find yourself in some drama, but if you don’t go looking for drama and are a nice person there’s nothing to really worry about.

What is a boy?~ After a while it really does seem like boys don’t exist. I mostly only know my boyfriend, male co workers, and some kids in my scholarship program that are males. I can pretty much count all the boys that I have contact with on one hand. In high school I was scared that I wouldn't know how to interact with guys after being at my high school for four years, but things turned out all right with me going to Smith. I’m not around guys a lot so I can be slightly awkward around them. But overall, you may forget how to communicate with guys for a while after going to an all girls school. 

Summary

It’s not that bad. An all girls environment is one like no other. I think you will find Smith to be very warm and inclusive if it’s anything like my old school. I loved going to an all girls school which is one of the main reasons I chose Smith. I feel like I really learned a lot from my classmates and other influential women on campus. The all girls advantage is real! Here's a link to my old schools website that shows the science behind the all girls advantage. 

I hope this post answered your question but let me know if you have anymore!