Life's
Narratives
When students arrive
at Smith, they come packed with dreams and visions of what
they want their lives to be. Rarely do things turn out the
way they expected. During Reunion last May, the Smith
Alumnae Quarterly asked alumnae back
on campus to reflect on how the women they have become today
measure up to those they envisioned becoming as
undergraduates. Here are some of their stories.
[Watch for the fall 2008
issue of the Smith Alumnae Quarterly, due for
publication soon, for additional alumnae interviews.]
Interviews by Jenny
Hall AC’04
Photos by Leah Fasten |
Current hometown:
Buffalo Grove, Ill.
Smith house:
Baldwin
Major: Sociology
My life as an undergrad:
I learned so many things from my professors. I was very happy.
I was here from 1934 to 1936. I was not worried about a profession
since I expected to marry as soon as my mother found a suitable
husband for me.
My life after Smith:
My husband became a professor of history and political science
at St. John's University in Shanghai. But when the Cultural
Revoluation came, my husband was accused of being a dissident
and sent to prison for six years. My older son, who was 21
and had just graduated from college, was sent to the fields
to farm. My younger son, 16, was taken from school to learn
a trade. I was put in a small apartment with many other people.
I was alone and poverty-stricken. I thought, I'll die in
this place. Then in 1970, friends from Smith raised money
for me to come to America and finish my education at Smith.
Smith taught me:
To think differently, to not restrain myself. I am in America,
I am free. The chains that bound me as a Chinese woman are
gone. I don't think I would have liberated myself. Smith
did that for me.
Outlook on life:
Two months ago, I was told I have lung cancer. But you
know what, it is not so important to me. I have had a full
life. I open my window every morning and look out and say,
I live here in America. How many people can boast such a
wonderful life?
Hometown: Cambridge,
Mass. (originally from Pakistan).
Smith house: Gillett
Major: Engineering
My dream as an undergrad:
I came thinking I'd major in engineering because I've
always enjoyed math and science, but when I got here, I realized
it's so interdisciplinary. My interests really developed, and
because of our senior design project with the Ford Foundation,
I ended up becoming very interested in bio-medical engineering
and sustainable mobility.
What I learned at Smith: Perseverence,
confidence, and open-mindedness. I'm very open about new
ideas. When something comes up, I let myself evolve in response
to it and see where it takes me. I'm confident. I feel like
I can do whatever I want, and that's awesome.
My life now: I
have just finished the first year of a two-year master's
degree program in technology and environmental policy at
MIT.
What I miss most about
Smith:
A bunch of us in the engineering building working on a design
project at, like, 3 in the morning, keeping each other
awake by singing crazy songs and snacking.
Current hometown :
Watertown, Mass.
Smith houses:
Albright, Haven, Wesley, and Gillett.
Major: Sociology.
My dream as an undergrad:
I wanted to take courses in subjects that hadn't been available
to me in high school, so I took a broad range of classes:
religion, anthropology, psychology, and a new and radical
field called women's studies. I ended up with enough credits
for a major in sociology.
My life now:
I found my calling as a glass sculptor. My current project
is to create an alphabet in glass using sand molds forms.
Basically, it's an attempt to conceptualize the evolution
of the alphabet and language. I am also a teaching assistant
at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston,
and I enjoy teaching very much.
A lesson I learned at
Smith:
During my sophomore year, there was a girl from Pakistan
on my floor. Prior to that, I had had no experience with
international students. What I remember vividly is that
every day she would pray, several times, and since her
roommate didn't want her to use their room, she had to
come out into the hall to do it. I thought she was incredibly
brave.
Current hometown:
Bologna, Italy.
Smith house:
Haven House, including one year in Sylvia Plath's old room.
Major: Italian.
My dream as an undergrad:
I knew I wanted to study languages; Italian was my priority.
I found an internship in Rome through the CDO with an alumna
who was in international real estate there. I was from rural
Connecticut and had lived in Spain, but never in a city before.
I didn't know anyone, but it didn't matter. I fell in love
with Italy. I knew I was going back.
My life after Smith:
First I got a job in Rome, in journalism. Then I moved into
the fashion industry, to Bologna. I worked in merchandising
at Ralph Lauren, and now I'm in sportswear at Nautica.
A lesson learned at
Smith:
You can be and do whatever you set your mind to.
How I applied that lesson:
It's helped me live in a country that is not exactly pro-feminist.
The media is filled with images of scantily clad women, and
teenage girls want to become sex symbols. I think that my
knowledge that women can do anything helps me remain strong
and confident as a person.
Current hometown:
Northampton, Mass.
Smith house:
Lamont for two years, then Gillett.
Major: Theatre
and Italian.
My dream as an undergrad:
To be a playwright. But I thought it would have to be a hobby
and I'd have to do "real" work. Smith really changed that
for me.
My life at Smith:
I wrote a number of plays, including a one-act that I acted
in, called Crossing, that explored the notion of
Jesus as a trans-man or a female-to-male. My senior year,
I wrote Naked I: Monologues From Beyond the Binary, which
won the Five College Denis Johnston Prize, which was very
exciting.
My life today:
I work as the coordinator of continuing education and systems
specialist at the Smith School for Social Work. My newest
play, Standards of Care, opened in Minneapolis June
6 at Patrick's Cabaret. I'm laboring on a novel for young
adults.
A lesson I learned at
Smith: It shook up my concept of the world. Before
Smith, I didn't look at how my upbringing and circumstances
had shaped my views. At Smith, I began to think about systems
of oppression and privilege and how that shapes your experience.
I thought about what I have and what I don't have, and
where I come from. What does it mean for me to be a racially
privileged white man, yet marginalized because I live as
a trans-man? I never took being at Smith for granted. My
only job is to be here and to learn. I had great conversations,
supportive experiences. Those things made me who I am today.
|
Tobias Davis ’03