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What
Can You Learn this Month?
The final week of Interterm
2007 offers courses beginning Monday, Jan. 22, on folding
paper, how to play Bridge,
Sri Lankan and Chinese cooking, traditional Korean dance,
and more.
The Interterm Program, now
in its ninth year, is a series of non-credit courses taught
by Smith community members -- students, staff, faculty, alumnae
and associates. This year’s program runs through Friday,
Jan. 26.
News & Events profiled
a few of the Interterm Program courses. This week:
Merrilyn
Lewis, advancement |
January 23-25,
2-3 p.m., Seelye 106
Instructor: Merrilyn Lewis, advancement
No matter what you do in life,
notes Merrilyn Lewis, an advancement officer, socializing
skills are important. And yet, socializing is one of the most
common human phobias.
“They have medication to
help handle [the fear], so you know it’s widespread,”
she says. “People are concerned over what to talk about,
not wanting to sound stupid, and feeling awkward disengaging
from a conversation.”
To help assuage those fears,
Lewis has taught her Savvy Socializing course during Interterm
for six years, and it’s become a popular selection among
students. Often, enrollees in her course are Smith seniors
embarking on the job search and in need of smooth interviewing
and schmoozing skills. After all, Lewis explains, “if
given a choice between a really talented co-worker who is
difficult to get along with, or a competent person with good
social skills, most people will select the person with the
good social skills.”
Lewis maintains a light atmosphere
during the three-day course, she says. “It’s quite
light-hearted and fun, while the advice is very practical
and immediately applicable.”
She will instruct her students
in ways to help others feel comfortable, how to join a conversation
in progress and exit a conversation gracefully. “Also,
it’s important to know what to talk about, how to listen
attentively, and how to work a room during a networking session,”
she says.
Most importantly, Lewis’
students will gain confidence in social situations, she says,
so that the next time they find themselves chatting at house
tea, trying to gain rapport with an interviewer, searching
for the right utensil during dinner at the president’s
house, or fumbling for something to say on a first date --
they’ll know what to do.
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