[Audrey] What is a Liberal Arts College?

The paradise pond in Smith College, by Audrey

Hi, everyone! I’m Audrey. I major in Neuroscience and minor in East Asian Language and Literature. I am also a movie goer, a super fan of 60s’ world cinemas.

“Process is Messy”, in my friend’s engineering lab, by Audrey

Some of you might not know the concept of liberal arts college, when I was in UC Berkeley last summer, a lot of my friends mistook liberal arts college for community college. I was very angry but at the same time I kind of understand, and I think it’s necessary to write this article for those who’re confused about liberal arts college education, and those who are trying to decide if liberal arts college is the place they want to spend the most important four years of their life.

When you are thinking about future, are you at a loss? Most people don’t know what they will do in the future, and they decide to choose the major 

that will help them get more money, or they live under their parents’ plan, and later on, maybe when they are juniors, they find out “Oh no! This is not the major I like! This is not the future I want!” But it’s already too late, they cannot go back and start it all over again.

Zebrafish embryo under fluorescent microscope, by Audrey

For me, one of the benefits of liberal arts education is that, I can try different things at first year. When I was a first-year, I explored very different subjects such as literature, mathematics, psychology, film studies, horticulture, and then I found my passion in Neuroscience, and I am working on very cool cognitive neuroscience projects using neuroimaging with five college faculty (Yes! At Smith, you also have the resources from other colleges nearby).

I enjoy one-to-one interactions with professors across different departments, and they all give me very helpful and enlightening ideas. This intimate relationship is very hard to find in big universities. My friends in big universities always complain about they can never have a face-to-face appointment with their advisors, and it’s very hard to get their recommendation letters, which are very important for internships and research opportunities.

Another thing I like about Smith is that we have a very beautiful campus. Hope you enjoy the pictures of the four seasons of Smith by my friend Mable and me.

The beautiful maple tree around Paradise Pond, by Mable

Sunset in Northampton, by Mable

There are so many other factors that I love about Smith, but I will talk about it in the next blog! Thank you for reading this. If you have any questions or comments, let me know. See you soon!