Diversity at Wellesley with Guest Blogger, Patrice

Hi, I’m Patrice!

Dear Accepted Students to the Green Class of 2017!!

I can’t believe acceptance time is finally here!  I’ll never forget my college search process, it was long, stressful and by the time I was accepted into Wellesley I had already been accepted into to other colleges much closer to my home state of Texas.  I clear

ly remember receiving my acceptance letter and being so excited that I fell to the ground and started crying, it was literally one of the best moments of my life.  But in all actuality I wasn’t sure I wanted to go to Wellesley, it was far from home and not only was it far from home but it was in this strange place called the Northeast which meant I would be embarking on completely new territory.

But I felt like I had to give Wellesley a chance so along with my father, I came to Spring Open Campus, which will start on Sunday, April 22nd for y’all.  There are many stories I could tell about my Spring Open campus experience, stories of how I met some of my first friends on that chilly afternoon, or stories about how I stayed up until 2am in the morning chatting with current students about their Wellesley experiences but the story I think is the most relevant and in all honesty the reason I came to Wellesley, is the story about Wellesley’s diverse community.You see a lot of college’s claim to have diversity, they mail out brochures featuring a multicultural array of students followed by percentages of the racial groups their students belong to but the thing with Wellesley is that that “paper diversity” is tangible and real.  As a student of African descent I was impressed by not only the strong community formed by Wellesley’s black student population but by how smart, funny, and quirky each and everyone one of those students were.

My friends and I (they’re the two on the right hand side with the ‘Go Blue!’ Shirt & the tank top) in New Orleans during Spring Break. We were volunteering renovating a house with St. Bernard’s Project thanks to a grant from Wellesley’s Center for Work and Service with a group of college students from Connecticut!

But beyond diversity as it is typically defined, as a multicultural spectrum, each and every one of Wellesley’s students brings something special to the table, and that is what I love most about Wellesley.  Within my first few days of first-year orientation I’d participated in: a discussion about the Israeli-Palestinian one-state/two-state conflict with a student from Saudi Arabia, a student from Jordan, a student from New Jersey, and a student from Ethiopia (all of which are close friends of mine now), discussed the differences between gender and sexuality, and shared things about myself that I’d never shared before with people I had just met.

What makes Wellesley special is the students it attracts, students who will one day be great poets, artists,journalists, doctors, lawyers, ambassadors, secretaries of state, and even midwives (I have a close friend who really wants to be a midwife).  Students who have started their own nonprofits and students who have just begun to explore their passions.  Nevertheless, Wellesley’s diverse community includes students from all walks of life, students who I could at any time sit down with and have a phenomenal discussion on say the proper way to bake and decorate a cake as I just did the other day before transitioning into a discussion about a multicultural conference (Culture Shift), that recently occurred on campus, I had planned.

Some of Ethos’ (Wellesley’s Black Student Organization) Officers at the (un)Spoken Word, a night of performances from students on and off campus put on by Ethos’ Black Arts Chair, my friend, Tanekwah Hinds ‘15.

I urge you as potential future Wellesley students to chose the college that will not only give you something but will enable you to give back to it.  One that will enhance your time inside the classroom and out.  For me that college was Wellesley and although my time here hasn’t always been an easy one I couldn’t see myself as the strong, confident, independent, smart, and beautiful person I’ve become at any other place.

Sincerely,
Patrice Caldwell, Wellesley College Class of 2015
—
Society Zeta Alpha, Spring ’12
Office of Admissions | Diversity Student Assistant
Ethos | Political Action Chair & Admissions Representative
College Government | Community Action Network | Culture Shift 2013 Chair

My friends and I taking a silly picture at our end of the year, post finals celebration!!!

Harambee House (umbrella house for all organizations for students of African descent) staff, first-year mentors, and some of the Harambee House Class of 2017 at the Harambee House Class of 2017 retreat!

A partial picture of the Wellesley College Class of 2015 class picture…if you look hard enough you’ll find me (I’m in the middle on the right hand side)!