| |
Hi! My name's Kristen and I'm a member of the class of 2010 here at Smith College. I live in Park House, which is right next to the admission office, and I absolutely love it. I've met some of my closest friends at Park and really feel like it is my home. I'm from Nashua, NH and, even though New Hampshire is only two hours away from Smith, I was definitely very nervous that I would be homesick when I came to college. At Smith, however, we have such a great support system of older students that within the first couple of days I was here I felt completely welcome and excited to be a Smithie! Knowing that I can be away from home has certainly increased my confidence and independence. I was surprised at how amazing my first year at Smith was and how I looked forward to coming back after the summer!
As far as academics go, I'm thinking about being a Geology and Spanish double major and maybe working to satisfy Pre-Vet requirements along the way. We'll see what happens! Because we have no set required classes that you have to take at Smith(except for a writing intensive class during your first year), it's very easy to explore different fields of study and let your goals evolve. Another great aspect of going to a college that's predominantly an undergraduate institution is that we have the opportunity to work with professors on research projects. This year I'm working for my Pre-Major advisor, Bosiljka Glumac, on cave samples from Croatia. A number of my friends are working on their own interesting projects as well!
One of the things that I really love to do here is play violin in the orchestra. My high school didn't have an orchestra so I had to drive about an hour each week to go to a youth community orchestra in a different city. Because of this, having a good orchestra was one of the main factors I considered when choosing a college.... and Smith has an awesome orchestra! This year I'm on the orchestra board as a co-secretary and it's very exciting to hear all of the fun things we'll be doing in the future. One of my other passions is being outdoors and doing conservation work. The summer before I came to Smith, I was a member of an 8-person student conservation crew. This involved camping in the woods of Michigan for a month with little modern conveniences...but I loved it! Now, at Smith, I'm trying to make outdoor activites a larger part of my life and am even taking a 2 credit course called Intro. to Wilderness Skills! My dream is to one day have a career that allows me to get out and see some of the world, and what I'm learning here at Smith is a wonderful beginning. |
