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Thank you to all the alumnae who have already shared their thoughts about Smith at events and by e-mail. Below are some comments that alumnae have e-mailed to us. Summaries of the discussions at each event are listed on our Notes page.
We hope you will continue the conversations by submitting your ideas.
Click to view comments from classes of...
The 40's
The 50s
The 60's
The 70s
The 80's
The 90's
The 00's
Class of 1941
I am 85. At 36 I started teaching 6th grade with no student teaching background. At 48, I opened a school library that was soon named after me. At 63, I undertook the data processing for our teachers' credit union, on computer. At 76, I started the computer lab teaching program at our senior center; alone, with no help, I wrote and taught the first courses, recruited teachers, and today taught my last class there. Smith does not need to teach any courses on intangible values. It needs to go right on teaching rigorous courses with high performance standards, so that students have the self-confidence and the courage and the problem attack skills to start a project and make it work. These qualities are by-products of a strong course in any subject. The great teachers taught by example their standards of dedication, excellence, organization, and love of learning. Smith needs to maintain high admissions standards so the students know they are special, to have been accepted and to have a Smith degree. (Even if mine was of NO use when I wanted to start teaching, it got me a provisional certificate and gave me the courage to learn on the job.)
Class of 1953
Much of what was Smith should continue to be Smith, as far as my education was concerned. A far more open-minded campus community today, however, is enviable. "Fostering a capacity for lifelong learning" must be the continuing mission. I entered the College with a very great deal of curiosity and of desire to know and understand and integrate all I could in my youth. I was an idealist, still am. But, could I have afforded not to be pragmatic and acquired the tools of having become an engineer?? I still think YES. My curiosity was never squelched and only supported. The curriculum and the faculty who taught it are as clear to me now as the bicycle ride down the road near Paradise Pond. That road became the path along which I've run and sometimes stumbled all these years. French Literature with a strong underpinning of history, art, music, philosophical thought was a major I've never regretted. (I only arrived there after having dabbled in pre-med.) It was a foundation on which I have acquired a passion (can be disillusioning) for government, public policy, political science, global economics. Nevertheless, I do read and I do write...not only in English and French but also Japanese. I had the good fortune of having worked for a decade of summers in Tokyo and its environs, which by train can encompass almost the entire country.
My daughter went to UChicago; my granddaughter recently graduated from Stanford. (Talk about pragmatism! She majored in Creative Writing in the English Department.) As a contining counselor of college wannabes, I rarely find a student who opts for a women's college. Oh, occasionally there is a Barnard someone, but that's because of location. Western Massachusetts was for me!! I prefer grass underfoot to concrete. I hope it is clear that I remain a strong advocator of an undergraduate LIBERAL ARTS education!
Class of 1967
I believe that my Smith experience taught me to be a careful, thoughtful and thorough thinker, writer, and speaker. These abilities have enabled me to become a well respected attorney, a good parent, an equal, loving and loved marital partner, a person involved in my community and with world issues, and a lifelong learner. In addition, the "down time" I had at Smith with my housemates and classmates (Mountain Day, sports, house meetings/governance, lingering over meals, afternoon tea, etc.) resulted in life-long friends. Even though we may not see each other frequently, when we do get together, we seem to always be interested in one another's lives and open to sharing/ receiving advice. For the 21st century, developing an inquiring mind coupled with patience and perseverance may be even more important than in the 20th century. I cannot speak to what the curriculum ought to actually contain. However, ethics, world religions, and terrorism come to mind as three particularly compelling subjects. (Can you tell that I was a government major?!)
Class of 1968
Smith provided me with an unbelievable education and the opportunity to experience great relationships and interactions with unique people who became friends and those who were my professors. I am constantly meeting other Smithies who I find myself attracted to as interesting and thoughtful people. My daughter is a senior in Comstock, and I find that the college continues to challenge its students intellectually, philosophically, politically, socially and in countless other ways. I have been so impressed by her friends--they are vibrant people. It is an even better town/gown environment than when I was there and I salute the efforts to make it so. The plan for upgrading the science facilities is very important, this is an area desperately needing more women in the future. I understand the need for consolidating the dining halls but do not further tamper with the housing format; Smith is unique in this feature among colleges.
Class of 1974
Social dialogue (capacity to listen, reflect and debate),
Writing-cogent thought, articulation (I spent a whole semester at the writing clinic at Smith...excellent input for my work then and now)
Intellectual vitality (creative thought, curiosity, capacity to research, reason)
Resilience (capacity to face many challenges)
Humor (capacity to see the fun, reflect on self with honesty and enjoy a good belly laugh)
Class of 1978
Young women considering and selecting colleges today need to hear from those of us who have experienced first hand something I never expected to find while I was at Smith: Four years in a wonderfully challenging environment where
WOMEN ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT COMMODITY.THEY WILL NEVER HAVE THAT CHANCE AGAIN IN THEIR LIVES. I truly believe it's that unique Smith environment that endows the women of Capen House, Chapin House, Martha Wilson, Morrow House and the rest, with their characteristic approach to life--that wonderful confidence and ease that conveys there's nothing a woman can't achieve, no "role" she's destined to fill, no opportunity she can't take part
in -- unless she chooses not to. And if she chooses to do something other than conquer the world and settles into whatever environment is comfortable for her and makes her happy -- that's fine, too.Everything she chooses to do will be imbued by those relationships she built, those theories she debated with the
best of the best, those quiet, solitary morning rows in a single skull on Paradise Pond, and memories of spending 3 weeks hidden in Documents North, diving deep into a ten-line poem (written perhaps by another intellectual, inquisitive,
accomplished WOMAN like herself), peeling away a new insight every day like the skin on an onion. No, she will never have that opportunity again, and the
many, many opportunities that those four years will offer her for the rest of her life.
Class of 1981
Smith has influenced my life in two major ways that I think relate to capacity. First, it is so simple, but it took until graduation to realize in a profound way that I had the capacity to learn anything I wanted to; that if I needed to know about something, I could find the information and use it. I knew how to learn, and I consider myself a lifelong learner, which is the number one skill in today's fast-changing world. The second is more complex. As I look back from the vantage point of 46 years, coming from a family comprised of a Tennessee farm-boy father, the first to go to college in his family and earn a doctorate, and a Gross Pointe mother who left college to support my father's education, to my roles
as an at-home mother with a diversity consulting business, my life has been all about diversity and social equity. Smith fit squarely in that path, though I know I didn't fully comprehend it as an undergraduate. The ability to explore virtually endless subjects, the participation in many extracurricular, service and leadership activities, and the opportunity to know students from so many different families, regions, perspectives creates an openness to difference and experience. This has absolutely contributed to my successful leadership in my work, my community, my place of worship and my family. I have now had eight beginning- of-the-year school conferences with my elementary-age children, and in every instance, the teachers have commented that one of my children's strengths is the ability to enhance the classroom learning by bringing their enriching experiences with them. Even though they are boys, I can directly attribute part of the responsibility for this to Smith. And though I will claim much of the responsibility for this, it is also because of Smith that I have the confidence to be who I am. I believe in myself, and know I will struggle, and find my way through, transformed, because I have the capacity.
Class of 1983
Leadership is important, and I enjoyed several opportunities for that at Smith, but learning "followership" has served me just as well. I came to Smith the proverbial big fish from the small pond (actually, a fairly big city) and believed I could always be the best at anything I tried. I found out fast that my peers had gifts and skills I'd never dreamed of and could never match. I also discovered that it did not diminish me to associate with them, listening and learning, without trying to compete. Perhaps another way to put it is that at Smith I learned a quiet humility, a receptiveness and openness to hearing others, that has enriched my life in innumerable ways.
Class of 1986
Two words that come to mind for me. . . empowerment and community. Empowerment--not to be limited by societal roles or to have such anxiety over these roles. To be comfortable with the whole self--intellect, physical body and spirit. And to be able to accept the seeming "contradictions" within one 's own personality; for example, a music major/ athlete; a church-going liberal; a person in a "straight" relationship who has not "let down the cause" of lesbian issues. With this empowerment comes the ability to find a "true fit" in our life.
Community--to have a sense of community responsibility both within Smith and beyond. To find balance between healthy personal goals and yet to feel a strong connection to the world and a responsibility to make the world (both personally and politically) better. To find ways to integrate and create social change rather than separate in anger.
I also feel that the future holds greater challenges for focus and for choice. While our ability to find and gather information is greater that we could have imagined, we are losing our ability to focus, to be present, and to be able to choose amongst the vast choices. I think this is one of the intellectual skills that will soon have to be really considered.
ANOTHER THOUGHT . . . As a high school teacher, I find my students are much less concerned with or even aware of gender, race, or class as a limiting factor in their life (particularly gender). And yet, I constantly see them respond and react to these roles. I wish for them to feel all the options that being alive has to offer. Despite my frequent soapbox about the wonders of Smith, single sex education (in perceived rural Mass.) is a tough sell in my NYC suburban community. They don't see what's missing in their community to long for a different one. While, I don't wish them pain, I wish for them to even be aware of a supportive community that will empower them even more.
Class of 1989
When I was at Smith there was a cultural emphasis that women can do whatever they want in life. That is wonderful, but it did not fully recognize the reality of being a woman, particularly a mother, today. Not every career or professional path is compatible with being a mother, particularly of young children. Many women in my generation were unprepared for that reality. I think Smith should help students to think about what they want for their futures as women and how best to choose a path which is compatible with their desires. (Please see the recent book by Judith Warner Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety. )
Class of 1990
I just want to commend Smith for starting an engineering program. I currently hold a professional engineering license, but not from Smith. I found a wonderful, but very low-paying job at the Smithsonian upon graduating in 1990. I started over, first at community college night school, and then later at the University of Utah (much more affordable) and obtained another bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering in 1995. The work has been more rewarding than I ever imagined. I'm not discrediting Smith. Smith gave me the confidence I never would have had otherwise to enter a male-dominated profession with gusto. Besides, the need for civil engineers is incredible. I hope Smith will one day take into consideration this "less glamorous" profession that brings water and transportation to our masses, and treats our waste in a manner that attempts to reduce our impact on the environment. By the way, (on the "glamorous side") I've been appointed by our governor to serve on the State's Seismic Hazard Safety Commission. I got involved when I learned that many of the State's schools don't meet current seismic code, and there's no law requiring upgrades. There's much work to be done in all walks of engineering, and I can't wait to be joined by more fellow Smithies. Ironically, I heard on the radio the other day that a college in New Orleans was canceling all majors that would not be useful to reconstructing the city in the wake of Katrina. They had cancelled all courses in English, Math and Chemistry, and were just offering majors in Social Work and Drug Rehabilitation Counseling. In contrast, National Geographic (Jan 2006) quotes a 13-year-old Kurdish girl in Iraq saying, as her dream, "I want to be an engineer to help rebuild my country."
Class of 2002
The longer I am away from Smith (and many of my best Smithie friends who are spread around the country), the more I realize the value the dicussions we participated in and the bonds we created. I've always found myself drawn to strong, intelligent people, but as I grow older I realize how difficult it is to find them and create inspiring dialogue and lasting friendships. As my friends and I crammed ourselves on beds, chairs, and the floor of one room to study, we were outraged by authors, amused by ironic criticisms, and stunned by a social history we had never looked at in this light. Each revelation started a discussion that ranged from pop music to foreign policy in Rwanda. And as much studying I DIDN'T get done, I was rewarded with the ability to speak my mind, be a thoughtful listener, and use other's passion for inspiration. I believe that Smith's policy for a broad liberal arts education allows for students of all backgrounds (and majors) to initiate a cross-cultural and multi-perspective dialogue that teaches the students to view issues from many sides--ultimately resulting in solid, well-planned arguments. Although I gained important skills through focused projects related to my major, PRAXIS, and the hands-on experience I have gained after joining the workforce, I am hopeful Smith will continue to expand on the breadth of its students' education.
Class of 2003
My biggest take away from Smith was the ability to think critically under pressure. Time and again, I watch as coworkers are confronted with problems and are not able to think about the logical steps necessary to see the problem through to success (or at the very least - no longer disastrous!). The most critical 21st century skill necessary in today's workforce is teamwork. Often it is a skill that comes to many by osmosis and rarely is formally taught. I believe that teamwork, defined as the ability to take constructive feedback, to support others weaknesses with your own strengths and accept help from others in your weaknesses, needs to be taught in a formalized way. Too often it is a secondary skill that comes around after living with a roommate who stays up past your bedtime or working on a paper with three classmates who have decided that you can cover all of the reading. It can, and should, be a focus of a woman's first year at Smith.
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