#pocheese

[addierose444]

Spring 2021: Semester Summary

It wasn’t easy, but I’ve made it through! It’s absolutely wild that I am now a rising junior and halfway through my time at Smith. Given all that I know now, I would still have made the decision to enroll this school year. With that said, I do feel that I have missed out on things and haven’t gotten the full experience. This is just me being honest about my conflicted feelings. I absolutely recognize that I’ve been extremely fortunate and that sophomore year was the “ideal” year to be in. The key challenges with spring 2021 were the remote nature, the lack of a real spring break, and the fact that I came straight in from an intensive interterm. You can check out my interterm posts here. 

One unexpected perk of this weird semester was getting a giant double room all to myself. And apologies that I have never posted a dorm room tour. In fact, the only dorm room photo I have ever posted was of my empty room last spring. The truth is that I don’t really decorate my room so it wouldn’t be that interesting. I’m not saying never, but definitely don’t count on a proper dorm room tour. That said, I do have actual advice on what to bring to college which you can check out here. 

As for academics, this semester I took four required courses for my majors and a logic course from the philosophy department. (Check out the specific courses here). It was a great batch of courses, but I am really looking forward to taking greater control over my schedule. The reality is that the first two years have been dominated by required courses (introductory, core, and foundational math and science). You can check out my full list of past courses here. Course registration was extra fun this semester as I had freedom to choose technical electives that really excite me and align with my specific interests. You can read more about course registration here.  

I’m getting ahead of myself as this post is supposed to be about spring 2021. All of my classes were remote with the exception of three in-person circuits labs. For a look at a typical week in my spring 2021 semester, click here. I really missed being in a real classroom with my professor and classmates. Obviously, it was also convenient to just take classes from my room. Rushing between classes isn’t the most fun in normal life, but it’s something that I honestly came to miss. Staying focused and engaged was more difficult in Zoom classes, but I genuinely believe that I learned a lot this semester. For the most part, my classes covered all of the normal material and had much the same assignments. I was also really fortunate to have had understanding and accommodating professors. 

The class that surprised me the most was math methods. While I expected the class to be boring and very difficult, I actually really enjoyed it. There were some topics that I had “learned” in past classes but didn’t really understand or appreciate until math methods. As my logic course was reading and discussion-based, it nicely complemented the rest of my courses. In the end, I think my favorite class was circuits. However, as it was also my most difficult and time-consuming, it’s hard to 100% claim as my favorite. 

Even though I wasn’t able to build the normal connections over Zoom, there was this sense of a shared experience that made the end more emotional than expected. In some of my classes, we have plans for in-person reunions despite having never met in person. In fact, last Wednesday, my discrete math professor (from fall 2020) came for a visit with her dog. I technically met her in person a few months ago when I ran into her downtown, but this was a planned visit during which I also met some of my classmates.

When it came to final exams, I was extremely lucky. This was a godsend as my internship literally starts tomorrow and things haven’t let up in a long time. You can read more about my internship application process here. For starters, my UMass classes ended early and didn’t have final exams. You can read more about my Five College course experience here. Furthermore, my logic class had our final test during the actual semester. The tests are “pyramid” style which means that we work independently on day one, in small groups on day two, and debrief the test as a class on the third day. The idea is that collaboration is built into the assessment and that we are meant to learn through testing rather than just demonstrating what we already know. For theory of computation, we had an optional final exam that I elected not to take. We also had a final project for which we had to create a short video and write a blog post. For circuits, we had an optional final that allowed us to gain points back on past exams. During the semester we had three exams with five question types each. The final had 15 problems that we could do all of, none of, or somewhere in between. Even though it wasn’t going to change my grade, I decided to reattempt five of the questions that I hadn’t scored as well on as I would have liked. Math methods was the only class for which I actually had to do work for during finals period. We had a final test on the last chapter of the course and an option “forgiveness final” that allowed us to get points back on chapters we had scored poorly on. 

Outside of academics, it has also been a semester where I learned a lot about myself. This is not the venue for that topic but seemed appropriate to mention in passing.  Some of the best parts of the semester were the in-person events and activities. Specifically, I visited the art museum and bulb show with friends. We also had fun house activities including an in-person talent show, paper flower making on the lawn, spring weekend, and senior banquet. Most of our teas were over Zoom but served a fun social purpose. One beloved Parsons tea is being read children’s books by the wonderful campus school librarian Emily. 

As for my student organizations and other non-academic responsibilities, it also wasn’t a normal semester. To be totally honest, SWE didn’t really do much of anything this semester. We held short weekly meetings, but there wasn’t really much to discuss or plan. Uke club had weekly jam sessions over Zoom. We also had a member design fun stickers and created a recording of Rivers and Roads. In Parsons, I served as the house treasurer and POCheese coordinator. As treasurer I oversaw the budget, was responsible for the house credit card, and submitted receipts and other paperwork. My role as POCheese coordinator was to plan fun events for residents of color. Examples from this semester include a ramen night and getting Boba. This year was also my first year as ResLife student staff. It was a strange year to work in ResLife because of all of the additional restrictions, but I was really fortunate to live in a great house with limited conduct issues. While it was challenging to build house community when we couldn’t all gather, I was able to build a connection with most of my residents. 

[smith-pocheese]

Find out more about house traditions here!

Find out more about where to get free food on Smith campus here!

[pochighlights-blog]

Featuring... Cara Flores ‘20

Cara is a junior double-majoring in Sociology and Studio Art who was born and raised in the Philippines, and is now based in Portland, OR. She identifies as a Filipino-American and loves everything Filipino, especially the food. When applying to colleges, Cara chose Smith because the open curriculum allowed for the option to major in art and something else. After taking classes in different departments during her first few semesters, she ended up in SOC 101 with Prof. Candelario, where she learned what sociology could teach her. In classes with Prof. Banerjee and Prof. Candelario, she loves that intersectionality is central to their teaching and research, not just another chapter in a book. What she learns in her sociology classes informs her art. Cara believes art should not be apolitical, and turns to print-making and etching as ways to think more visually about identities and intersectionality.

When she first arrived at Smith, Cara struggled to find an affinity space on campus that felt like home. As a first year, she started Pan Asians In Action (PAIA) with a few graduating seniors. She describes PAIA as a space for “misfit Asians” who are interested in investigating the intersection of queer and Asian identities to unlearn expectations of hyper-feminization and submissiveness. Cara and her friends at Smith fondly call themselves the “Gaysians.” One of her favorite memories was racing and splashing in Paradise Pond with the Gaysians. Cara’s low-income background also shapes her experience at Smith. Next year, she hopes to center class identity in PAIA’s discussions and work, alongside to race, gender, and sexuality. She stresses that “class is not just a number that you fill out when you apply to FAFSA, it’s a mentality that is internalized from lived experience.”

Cara is passionate about creating POC communities across Smith campus as well. She is one of the founding organizers of POCheese, a newer cross-campus house tradition. As a HONS (Head of New Students) last year for Comstock House, she worked with other students and Reslife to establish this through applying for an Innovation Grant. Cara is also a Multicultural Recruitment Intern for Admissions, where her job is to talk to prospective students of color. She loves sharing her knowledge and experience to help newer Smithies learn how to “finesse things to make things work on a campus that is not made for POC.”

But wait… there’s more! This semester, Cara participated in the Draper Competition with her friend Jane Lee to make Spark, a database for connecting ad agencies to creatives of color. Cara is committed to making space for POC at Smith and beyond, and hopes to continue this work after Smith. Besides pursuing a career in advertising, she wants to continue helping to build supportive communities for POC and return to the Philippines, all while roller derbying: “I love the Marxist idea of being able to do it all, and I’m going to try despite capitalism.” She is grateful for all the opportunities she has had at Smith and will one day come back as an alum to donate $1million to POCheese and POC financial aid.

Cara urges every Smithie (newer or older) to take Prof. Banerjee’s “Gender and Globalization” course: “you will have your mind blown.” She also wants to remind new Smithies to not be afraid to build something, especially community.

[smithbysmithies]

Can POCheese meets only be found in WIlson?

Nope! Every house has funds specifically to host POCheese.

-Julie ‘21

This funding also goes towards other POC events! I know my house (Park) used some of our POCheese funds to go see Black Panther together. If you ever have an idea for a POC event in your house, definitely propose it at a house meeting - you may just be able to pull it off!

Iris ‘20

[littlesmithie]

My HR Suite!

One of the perks about being an HR is that we get a suite in whichever house that we get assigned. It’s generally on the first floor, where the House Mothers used to live. Years ago, Smith would hire women to become House Mothers and oversee the house. They lived with the students, and oversaw curfews, parties, and meals. A lot has changed since then as we have RA positions filled by students now. Here’s several pictures of my room(s)!

We get a living room as we hold meetings with residents here. This can be roommate contract meetings, planning events, POCheese, or if a resident wants to talk to us in a private space. I have a bowl of chocolates and candies out for residents who stop by! 

My desk is also located in the same room. I have a lot of things. What you see here is my post it organization system, a larger network of to-do lists basically. It’s separated into Academic Classes, Res-Life, and Others (like blogging and Gold Key things). I just started this system this semester and so far it’s been great. As a visual person, this really helps me keep track of everything. The fridge comes with the room and is great to have to store leftovers or ice cream. 

And that’s my bedroom! Not much to say really. I also have a private bathroom but it’s at an awkward angle and hard to take nice pictures of. 

Hope this motivates some people in becoming Res Life! 

[thebreakfastgenie]

my college has a new thing where they’re sponsoring events within the house communities so all the students of color in that house can hang out and have their own space which is cool. they’re calling it POCheese though and I’m just. not sure why. 

[smithiesteph]

Congratulations, Agnes Hu, for winning the Student Leadership Award for Outstanding Programming! Wilson House is so appreciative of all the hard work that you have done to make Wilson a welcoming and inclusive space. A special thank you for helping write the Innovation Challenge proposal for POCheese. I don’t think my senior year would have been as special without those weekly hangouts. Best of luck with house programming next year as House President! 

Wilson love, 

Steph

[smith-pocheese]

Find out more about pocheese here!

[addierose444]

Another Busy Weekend

As the title suggests, this weekend has been very busy. Last weekend was also busy as we had spring weekend, which you can read about here. The result of last weekend being so busy was that the whole week wound up being a bit crazy. It wasn’t all bad though as I did hold a fun boba event for my house. 

Typically, Friday is a really chill day for me as I only have one class, don’t do much in the way of homework, and have house tea. However, this Friday it felt like I was in meetings all day. In the evening I went to see Duct Tape Production's rendition of the musical Big Fish. The show was really good and it was nice getting to watch so many Washburn residents perform (in the play itself and in the pit orchestra). 

On Saturday morning I woke up early and took the bus to Amherst College to help out with the programming contest that I helped organize last spring. This was actually my very first time on the Amherst campus. (I do go to UMass twice a week though for a software engineering class). Since my dad is a Williams grad, I’ve always been a bit biased against Amherst. However, I will admit that despite being extremely sleep-deprived it was actually a lot of fun meeting Amherst computer science students and checking out their science center. I didn’t get these vibes during my visit but will say that Smithies generally see Amherst as being rich and elitist. 

On Saturday evening I ordered food from Oriental Taste for POCheese dinner. (POCheese is an event for residents of color that I organize for my house). To read more about the restaurants in Northampton, click here. After dinner, I attended the senior dance concert with some friends. Despite not knowing much about dance I definitely enjoyed watching the varied performances. 

As for Sunday, it actually wasn’t that busy as my normal meetings were canceled. The one scheduled event of the day was brunch with one of my SWE (Society of Women Engineers) little sibs. 

[addierose444]

About Me: 3.0

My name is Addie Hannan and I use she/her pronouns. I am a twenty-year-old Smithie from Vermont. I turned twenty at the beginning of last month, but I’m at the point where age doesn’t come up often so I sort of forget that I’m in my twenties now. To read some of my reflections as an almost twenty-year-old, click here. I am currently a junior in the class of 2023. I’ve been writing weekly blog posts for over two years. Not a lot changes from year to year, but it’s fun to update and look back on these about me posts. They also serve as a nice introduction to folks who are new to my blog. I write about my college experience and life more generally. 

When not at Smith, I live with my parents and our three-year-old dog Artemis. He is a Welsh Springer Spaniel. That’s one change from last year as we had to put down our older dog Hank over the summer. We live on a small family farm with cows, chickens, and blueberry bushes. 

In terms of academics, I am an engineering (B.S.) and computer science double major. You can check out my current and past courses at the respective links. My current career interests are in software engineering and potentially robotics. This past summer I interned at Microsoft as an Explorer Intern. I’m excited to be returning next summer as a Software Engineering Intern on the OneNote Team! To read some of my various posts about Microsoft, click here.  

This year, I am a House Community Advisor (HCA) in Washburn House. In this role, I connect with individual residents and help to ensure we have a safe and inclusive house community. I have previously lived in both Hubbard and Parsons. I am also the Washburn POCheese Coordinator which means that I plan events for our residents of color. I’ve held this position in all of my past houses and am looking forward to kicking things off this year. My other main position on campus is as the treasurer of Smith’s chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). Typically org treasurers just handle basic purchase requests to get board members reimbursed for org expenses. In the case of SWE, I am in the process of securing funding for the seniors’ trip to the annual SWE conference (WE21). 

In my free time, I love listening to podcasts and audiobooks. I also enjoy playing the guitar but haven’t really played in a while. At present, the music I have been listening to on repeat is the soundtrack of Dear Evan Hansen. While I haven’t seen the play or upcoming movie, I did listen to the novel last week. As for my actual favorite music, I love James Taylor and The Chicks. 

[addierose444]

About Me 4.0

My name is Addie Hannan (she/her) and I am a twenty-one-year-old Smithie. Not a ton changes year to year, but refreshing these about me posts is fun and just makes sense. I started this blog back in June of my senior year of high school, so it’s crazy that I’m now a senior in college! The years have just flown by, but at the same time, my first semester (pre-pandemic) feels so long ago. After years of using the same photo (taken back in high school), I’ve finally added a new photo taken on Mountain Day back in fall 2020! When not at Smith, I live with my parents and our dog Artemis on a small family farm in central Vermont. However, after graduation, I will be moving to the west coast (Seattle) to work as a software engineer at Microsoft. I was able to secure this post-graduation employment after interning with Microsoft for the past two summers.

As for my life at Smith, academics are a big part of it as I am an engineering (B.S.) and computer science double major. You can read more about my current classes and past classes at the respective links. My main extracurriculars are also somewhat academic in nature as I am the treasurer of Smith’s chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and the co-president of our engineering honors society (Tau Beta Kappa). I’ve been the treasurer of SWE since my sophomore year and my main responsibility is applying for and managing funds for our annual trip to the SWE national conference. I also help plan various events during the year and submit payment requests to get folks reimbursed. As for Tau Beta Kappa, we run it under the same bylaws as the national engineering honor society Tau Beta Pi, but don’t yet have enough graduates to be an official chapter (hence the different name). Because of the small size of our engineering department and the strict eligibility requirements, joining the leadership team was basically a requirement. (We have five leadership positions and only four senior members who were inducted as juniors). Being a co-president has been fun so far as I’ve been sending out physical letters to invite new members. In accordance with Tau Beta Pi regulations, we extend invitations to the top eighth of the junior class and the top fifth of the senior class. Not yet sure what exactly we’ll be doing this year but we’ll be doing some service-related work. 

It may seem like my whole life at Smith revolves around engineering and computer science, but I’m also pretty involved with my house. Specifically, I am the House Community Advisor (HCA) of Washburn House. In this role, I connect with individual residents and help to ensure we have a safe and inclusive house community. This is my first year not officially on the house council, but I plan to remain a very active member of the community. Speaking of house council, in prior years I’ve been a house treasurer and a POCheese coordinator. As a POCheese coordinator, I planned events (mostly dinners) for my fellow house residents of color. 

In my free time, I enjoy hanging out with friends and listening to podcasts, audiobooks, and music. Definitely check out the previous links to read about my favorite podcasts and songs! One of my current favorite songs (that didn’t make the post from summer 2021) is The House That Built Me by Miranda Lambert. Other activities that I enjoy and am hoping to do more are biking and rock climbing. In addition to taking a rock climbing class this semester, the plan is to finally get involved with Smith’s Outdoor Adventure Program! Specifically, they have weekly bike rides and a few climbing trips planned each semester. 

[addierose444]

College Advice For First-Years

Starting college is exciting. It can also be a bit nerve-racking especially now with a global pandemic. In a recent post, I went into depth about why I am returning to campus in the fall. A key mindset to build is recognizing that things may not be perfect but will surely provide an amazing opportunity to learn and grow as a person. This mindset is not overly optimistic but does focus on the real learning opportunity that any challenge brings. 

College is all about balance. It’s about believing in yourself, but not thinking you're the best. It's about working hard but not to a breaking point. And the real art to having a successful college experience is in learning to balance all of the responsibilities and opportunities. These responsibilities are all-encompassing and include academics, extracurricular activities, work, and personal well-being. College is different from high school in that you have more control over your time and energy. And with balance comes setting the right priorities and goals. You need to acknowledge upfront that quite honestly it would be impossible to fully take advantage of everything that college has to offer. 

Next week, I will be focusing on academic advice! If you have specific questions, feel free to ask me directly or to submit a question to the entire Smith by Smithies team of bloggers.

In terms of what to bring to college, check out my full guide here. Given the nature of this academic year, my advice to be selective with what you pack is particularly relevant. I will also reiterate my point about bringing things that make you smile. Since the on-campus portion of the fall semester is shortened, I don’t think boots and a winter jacket will be necessary but you’ll definitely want a warm sweatshirt. 

As for making friends, its really about getting involved in some way or another. I personally found that attending house events was really important. Again this is really where balance comes in. Don’t overwhelm yourself by participating in every possible social event, but definitely make an effort to connect with other students. In addition to other first-years, be sure to engage with older students. 

Getting involved with clubs is a lot of fun. You can start exploring the Social Network now, but there will also be a virtual org fair in the fall. While this doesn’t sound ideal, the Social Network was essential for me in finding extracurriculars of interest. We did have an in-person org fair last year, but I found it to be extremely overwhelming. This was in large part because it had been moved indoors at the last possible moment. It’s important to remember that you don’t have to stick with every extracurricular that you try. While your first year is likely the easiest time to get involved with a new organization, it is definitely not the only time. As for leadership roles, even as a first-year you can run for house council or organization board positions. For instance, last year I was the treasurer and POCheese Coordinator for my house. POCheese it is basically a time/space/event organized for Smithies of color. Another space/resource for students of color is the Mwangi Cultural Center. In terms of the organizations that I am currently involved with, I am the treasurer of Smith’s chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and the Uke Club. I will also be a part of Residence Life as a Community Advisor.  

This last piece of advice isn't easy but is extremely powerful. Diversify your identity. Why? Doing so will allow you to better handle setbacks in one area of your life. Here's an example, maybe your identity is tied up in your previous academic success. You can diversify your identity by getting involved with extracurriculars and internalizing that involvement into your identity. 

[addierose444]

Restaurants in Northampton

As a student, I primarily eat on campus. That said, sometimes it’s really nice to get off campus for a meal or frozen yogurt. In this blog post, I have compiled a list of all of the restaurants that I have been to in Northampton. Since not all of the places are actually restaurants, I have further divided the places into four categories. Within each category, the places are ordered alphabetically. For my favorite places, I have listed my go-to order. I have also included a link to each restaurant’s website along with price ranges from Google. 

Regular Restaurants:

Amanouz Cafe ($): Amanouz cafe is a Moroccan and Mediterranean restaurant. Last semester, I organized a POCheese dinner at Amanouz Cafe for fellow Hubbard residents of color. While we had a great time, I thought the food was good but not worth going back for. 

Jakes ($$): Jakes serves breakfast and lunch. (You will find that most of the other restaurants on this list only serve lunch and dinner.) The breakfast is served all day, thus Jakes is a great choice for breakfast food lovers. From my experience, Jakes often has a long wait to get in, so keep that in mind. 

Mulino’s Italian Restaurant ($$): I absolutely love Italian food! (I was fortunate to visit Italy last summer, which you can read about here.) This restaurant is on the pricy side of things, but the food is really good. 

Wedge Salad

Carbonara

Noodles ($): I have been going to Noodles since before I was a student at Smith. They serve noodle soups and rice bowls amoung other things. The space is small, so its not great for large groups looking for a nice sit-down meal.  

Chicken Teriyaki Rice Bowl

Oriental Taste ($$): Oriental Taste serves Asian cuisine, but primarily Chinese. We had our first POCheese dinner at Oriental Taste and had a great time. Oriental Taste is great for large groups since you ideally order multiple dishes to share. While Oriental Taste is not all that expensive, it has a somewhat fancier feel.

Fried Rice with Chicken

Osaka ($$): Osaka is a Japanese restaurant with locations in Northampton and Brookline (MA). Their website says they are also a steak house. I don’t know much about Japanese cuisine, so I can’t say how their food compares to other Japanse restaurants. Depending on what you order, the bill can climb very quickly. 

Quick Bite:

Local Burger ($$): Local Burger is a burger joint that sources ingredients locally. It is the kind of place where you order at the counter and then receive your food in a basket lined with paper. Local Burger also has a location in Keene (NH) along with a seasonal location in Haydenville (MA) called Local Burgy. Last semester, I kept hearing how great Local Burger is. Earlier this week, I finally went for the first time. It was absolutely delicious and I look forward to going back. 

Farmhouse Turkey Burger

Pizza Amore ($): Pizza Amore is a super convenient pizza place as it’s literally just across the street from my house. The slices are giant and affordable which is a plus.  

Cafes:

Haymarket Cafe ($): Haymarket Cafe serves hot beverages and pastries. They also have a juice bar that I have yet to try. Upon going to their website, I learned that they are also a restaurant that serves all three meals. I have left Haymarket Cafe in the cafe category anyways. One nice thing about Haymarket Cafe is that they pay all of their employees a minimum wage of $15/hr. Additionally, since the Cafe service is included in the prices, a tip is unnecessary.

Woodstar Cafe ($$): Woodstar Cafe has hot beverages, baked goods, and sandwiches. I went for the first time yesterday and had the hot Honey Lemon Ginger drink. It was quite delicious and had a great balance of flavors. 

Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt:

Absolute Zero ($$): Absolute Zero makes rolled ice cream and drinks in light bulb-shaped vessels. When I went, I got the KeyLime Pie ice cream. The ice cream is made right in front of you, which is a lot of fun to watch. The end product was quite good, but the high price point means I probably won’t be going back. 

GoBerry ($): GoBerry is an awesome frozen yogurt shop. Their frozen yogurt is delicious and has a great texture. They also serve soup (which I haven’t tried). GoBerry is a definite favorite among Hubbard residents and other Smith students. Each week, they have a different set of four flavors (which you can find on their website). GoBerry also has a stamp card where you get a free small frozen yogurt (with one topping) after buying 10. A small frozen yogurt (without toppings) costs $3.75 and has the perfect amount of frozen yogurt.

Raspberry (or Original)

Herrell's ($$): Harrell’s is an ice cream shop that has been around since 1980. It is a chain, but the shop in Northampton is the original. At times, the line can be really long. I personally find that the ice cream is too sweet. Besides, GoBerry’s frozen yogurt is far superior and at a better price point. That being said, if it is your birthday Harrell’s will give you a free ice cream sundae. All you need is some official form of identification that has your date of birth (i.e. driver’s license).

[addierose444]

Why Smith?

Congratulations to all prospective students who have just been accepted to Smith College! If you have been rejected, I would advise clicking away from this post and instead focus on getting excited about your other options. In the end, college is really what you make it. If you have been waitlisted, I’m very sorry. In many ways, a clean rejection is easier to deal with. I’d say go ahead and keep your place on the waiting list, send an update email to the admissions office, and then focus on your other options. 

As you all should know, there is a pandemic affecting everyone’s daily lives. Because of said pandemic, visiting colleges is not really possible. I know that the admissions office is doing all they can to connect you all with current students, but I get that it’s not really the same. I hope that this post can be of use to you in making an informed decision. The fact that you’re reading this is fantastic because in my wonderfully biased opinion this blog is a great resource. 

I’ll start with an introduction. My name is Addie and I am a first-year engineering major. My other academic interests are computer science and French. I was born in China, but have spent nearly my whole life in Vermont. While the pandemic definitely changes things, I am just going to write in the present tense. At Smith, I live on Green Street in Hubbard House. House community has been really important to me during my time at Smith. I have been an active member of house council as the House Treasurer and POCheese Coordinator. POCheese events are for Smithies of color. Outside of my house, I am a member of the ukulele club and a blogger (obviously). If any of that sounds interesting, you can check out the rest of my blog here. Otherwise, continue reading but then check out other Smithie blogs. Also, exploring Smith’s website and YouTube channel can be useful. 

My second blog post ever was Why I Chose Smith. While that post remains one of my favorites of all time, as a current Smithie I have gained further insight into why Smith is amazing. 

Engineering AND Liberal Arts: The pairing of engineering and the liberal arts is fairly uncommon. However, they are a powerful combination in preparing a student for the real world. In my time at Smith, I have been able to take awesome classes in and outside of STEM. Specifically, I have loved being able to continue my study of the French language.   

Open Curriculum: At Smith, outside your major and a single writing-intensive course, there are no course requirements. I know that some colleges pride themselves in their Core Curriculum. However, I really believe that having the freedom to choose courses is a lot more powerful. Besides, you can learn more in classes you actually enjoy. 

Small Classes: During my first semester of college my largest class was 28 students. This semester, with the exception of one lecture course with 74 students, the rest of my classes are quite small. I prefer small courses because I get to know the professor and my classmates better. Furthermore, collaboration is more natural when we are sitting at tables rather than in a lecture hall. 

The People / The House System: In high school, I was often frustrated by my peers’ overall disinterest in learning, at Smith, students are engaged and actually care. Outside of the classroom, Smithies are really interesting people. Prior to coming to Smith, I thought the house system was sort of a sales pitch. But in reality, it has meant a lot to me in transitioning to college life. The house system helps you to get to know other Smithies outside the classroom. 

Location: For me personally, Smith is the optimal distance from home. I can get home easily via train, but I am not too close to home. I enjoy being in New England but having a mellower winter compared to my home in Vermont. 

Campus: This shouldn’t be your top consideration in choosing a school, but it matters. Have you noticed how a cloudy day can affect your mood? Living and studying on a beautiful campus makes a psychological difference. Smith has one of the most beautiful campuses in part because it is a botanical garden! Smith has a very walkable campus. It is also fairly flat so biking is easy as well. 

I hope this brief list was helpful! If you have specific questions, feel free to ask me directly or to submit a question to the entire Smith by Smithies team of bloggers. Best of luck in choosing a college, I hope to see some of you next year!

[addierose444]

College Organization: Part II

Introduction:

If you missed the first part of this guide, check it out here. This part will focus on time and task management. 

Before getting into my specific system, I need to emphasize the importance of creating a system that works for you. While this system works fairly well for me, it isn't guaranteed to work for you.

This post is organized by tool used. You will notice the entire system is digital. This enables me to always have access to my calendar and tasks. I love paper planners, but I have found digital to be more efficient and effective. 

Google Keep:

I use Google Keep to manage my academic assignments. I was first introduced to Google Keep in my sophomore year of high school. I have the app on my phone and iPad. Additionally, every time I open Google Chrome on my laptop it opens to Google Keep by default. Google Keep is sort of like a digital board of glorified sticky notes. In my system, each class gets a color-coded note with a checkbox for each assignment. Since assignments recur frequently, I uncheck assignments as they get reassigned. Until recently, I also had a note in Google Keep for my personal tasks. 

Google Tasks Google Tasks is the current way I manage most personal tasks. I have the app on my phone and iPad. Google Tasks can also be accessed in the sidebar of many Google applications including Gmail and Docs. Google Tasks is very simplistic, but in some ways that is an advantage. I would use Google Tasks for everything, but it lacks the ability to color code. It may seem odd to have two separate task managers, but it works well for me. Google Tasks basically holds my daily to-do list. As you will know from my most recent reading blog post, I try to read every day. Google Tasks makes managing recurring tasks such as reading really easy. In Google Keep, recurring reminders can be made, but the note persists after completion. 

Google Calendar:

I manage my schedule through Google Calendar. Once again, I have the app on my phone and iPad. Using a digital calendar allows me to easily keep track of recurring events such as classes, work, house council, ukulele club, and POCheese. In my Google Calendar, I have a bunch of calendars. The advantage of having multiple calendars is that I can selectively turn on and off calendars. I use the default calendar for events and deadlines. I also have a calendar dedicated to my course schedule and another one for professors’ office hours.

In addition to the calendars that I created, I have two other calendars that I can reference, my house calendar and the Smith academic calendar. If you use a digital calendar, I highly recommend adding the academic calendar to your calendar. You can do so by following the instructions at the bottom of the previous link. The dates are important and adding them this way saves loads of time and ensures they are correct. 

Toggl

I track my time using Toggl. I use the app on my phone and the Chrome extension on my laptop. Additionally, it opens by default when I open Google Chrome (in a secondary tab next to Google Keep). Time tracking allows me to see how much time I spend on each class and each assignment. This enables me to make more realistic predictions of how long a future assignment will take. It also lets me gauge my productivity. Once again, I implement color-coding in Toggl. Though it is not a website blocker, starting the timer (it’s actually more like a stopwatch) tells my brain that it’s time to focus on the task at hand.

Integration:

The above tools work independently and together. For instance, if I am particularly overwhelmed, I will schedule blocks of time to complete specific tasks. These blocks are scheduled around my existing events in Google Calendar. The tasks can be found in my Google Keep (and Google Tasks) and time estimates are made based on information in Toggl.

[addierose444]

House Event: Painting a BLM Flag

Here at Smith, each house has a Black Lives Matter flag (at least that is what I have been told). Last year, a storm destroyed the Hubbard House BLM flag. On Tuesday, Jessica, one of the Heads of New Students (HONS), hosted a study break to paint a new BLM flag. As you will see, the flag is not perfect. That being said, being hand-painted by house members makes it more meaningful than a commercially produced flag. I am writing this post today because it was put up this morning!

At Hubbard, we have weekly study breaks, tea/chill times, and house dinners. All of these events are meant to be fun and help to build house community. Our first tea/chill time was making face boards. As a member of House Council (Treasurer and POCheese Coordinator), I get to know about future house events before they are officially announced. The rest of the house is informed of events by emails from our House President and weekly paper newsletters. As the semester goes on, expect to see more posts about specific events.