If you’ve ever taken a class with me, or really if you’ve ever met me, you know that I ask a lot of questions. I am that girl whose hand is raised during lectures, who regularly goes to office hours and has long email chains with her professors — it’s just how I learn. I’m a very social person, and my brain has a tendency to jumble my thoughts together, so I find it very helpful to talk things through with others.
This desire for discussion is one of the reasons why I love being a college student so much. I found that at Smith, I am adamantly encouraged to ask questions for pretty much everything I do. With the wide range of resources available to me and people I can talk to at most times during the day, I’ve found college to be my little slice of inquisitive heaven. If I didn’t quite understand problem three on the week’s homework, I could stop by my professor’s office hours. If I’m applying to an internship and I can’t figure out the best word for my cover letter, the Lazarus Center has tutors waiting for me. If I’m worried about my daily diet or my sleep schedule, I can set up an appointment at the Health Center. Basically, if I have a question (which I so often do), there is always someone on campus I could talk to.
Having studied away Smith for a little over a month now, I’ve realized how unique this pre-structured network of resources is to a college campus. Here in D.C., I am acting as a full-time student without full-time access to student resources, such as office hours, a writing center or even a library. For example, if I need books to help with my research paper, I have to schedule and pay for the one hour commute to Georgetown University’s library (which I have borrowing privileges at), find the books I need and then, scan all of the relevant chapters as I am limited to the amount of books I can check out. If I am attempting to do this on a weekday after work, I don’t get home until 10, sometimes 11p.m.
It’s also difficult to access Smith’s resources via phone or email because the communication is a lot slower and more difficult to navigate. Most of the student centers on campus, such as the Lazarus Center for Career Development or the Lewis Global Center, operate during the typical work hours of 9 to 5 p.m. I, however, work from 9 to 6 p.m., so my only opportunity to talk with the different staff members and ask questions is during my lunch break.
While my scattered access to student resources has been difficult for me now, I can’t help but think about what life will be like after graduation when I virtually have no access to these kinds of resources. Sure, I won’t be writing research papers for my classes anymore, but I’ll likely be writing memos or research reports for my employer. And I’ll still need to add to my resume, develop my professional skills and think through the messy theoretical problems of our society.
At Smith, most of my resources are pre-arranged for me within the mile-long campus. After college, however, I’ll need to create my own network of resources, picking and choosing which are most important to me and, if I’m being realistic, what I can spend money on. I predict that this is going to be fairly difficult for me, given my natural dependency on help from others. Luckily, Smith has an incredible alumni network that can offer me a great deal of support, but ultimately, I’m going to have to learn how to navigate this world without immediate access to people who are able (and willing) to answer all my questions. And, to no surprise, I find that my instinct reaction is to wonder, “who can I talk to about this?’
