Today we will take a short break from our Wellelsey lingo series and drift our focus slightly. My roommate from high school came to visit me last week, and we had a really fun time. At some point we started talking about our college experiences compared to our high school ones. Upon that wonderful conversation, I got inspired to write this blog which will be about debunking common myths about studying at Wellesley College.
MYTH: Wellesley students are extremely competitive and academically intense.
REALITY: While it is true that the curriculum at Wellesley challenges students academically, the atmosphere is that of collaboration among students. An interesting trend that I noticed especially among my first-year class is that first-years when they first arrived at Wellesley, they were all quite competitive with each other. However, once they realized that both professors and other upperclassmen students gave them intense “side eyes,” they realized that maybe it is not all about grades at Wellesley. Some people had to learn that studying at Wellesley is all about finding your own path and following it. Students come from very different backgrounds and educational backgrounds so it is pointless to try to compete with each other. For instance, I had a Russian curriculum at school until my junior year. In my second semester of my junior year, I left my home and flew to the US. Of course I will have a bit of a hard time when it comes to citations, for example, because we never had that back home, and I am still learning. And, of course, when it comes to Russian classical literature class, for instance, I will have a greater advantage since Russian is my second language. You see how pointless it is to try to compare yourself with other students?
We at Wellesley try to stay curious and learn more about each other and connect and network with each other.
MYTH: Wellesley’s social life is dull and limited
REALITY: Social life is all about choosing your own adventure. While this school might not be a college party school with fraternities and sororities, we definitely know how to have fun! We have more than 180 student-run clubs and organizations for over 2,000 students, which if we think about it is quite a lot of clubs per number of students. We also have societies (Agora, TZE, Shakespeare) that are more selective than regular clubs and are sort of like sororities in that way. We also have affinity houses on campus like Harambee House, Acorns, and Slater International Center.
We are conveniently located only 12 miles away from downtown Boston, which is about 30 mins by car. Thus, we have access to the best of the both worlds: picturesque campus and also one of the biggest cities, Boston.
As for the social scene, Wellesley students have access to other colleges in the Boston area like Boston University, Harvard, MIT, and Boston College. Wellesley students can totally go and attend hangouts, parties, or social events with friends at other schools!
MYTH: Graduating from women’s college limits career opportunities.
REALITY: I have never rolled my eyes this hard. THIS IS NOT SIMPLY INACCURATE, this is actually outrageous!
Graduating from a women’s college, like Wellesley, actually equips you with so many tools and just empowers you to become a leader in the world off campus. From my personal experience, I already noticed that I gained more voice and learned how to speak up, though I just finished my first year of college. I come from an environment where women getting educated past high school are very stigmatized. My mom told stories how in the past people could sometimes even kill women who wanted to get educated in universities. My grandma definitely saw a lot of violence in her village. Therefore, for me, the women empowerment component is incredibly important.
For post graduation plans, we have a career education center that has cool programs, resources and opportunities. For instance, we have our own LinkedIn with Wellesley alums as hiring managers. And speaking of our alumnae network, Wellesley’s alumnae network is recognized as one of the strongest women networks in the world!
At Wellesley, something I have discovered is that students are so ambitious and outspoken that they are not scared of challenging the status quo both on campus and off campus. That made me uncover a hidden layer of confidence I didn’t know I had before.
Here are some pictures of the campus from the weekend!
