Soon you will be receiving mail at 1 Mead Way. Here’s some advice to the newest members of our community:
Get Involved
This may seem like cliché advice. For many of you on such a small campus, “getting involved” will be hard not to do. However, it is important to temper your academic and creative work with larger discussion and effort focused beyond the individual self. Sarah Lawrence is a great place for the individual to grow, but it’s also a place where great individuals can come together in powerful, constructive, and thought-provoking ways.
Sarah Lawrence offers dozens of student clubs, publications, and spaces. Some have higher profiles than others – like Downstage, the student-run theatre space; The Phoenix, the student-run newspaper; or Common Ground, the student-run space devoted to issues relevant to students of color. Others serve more specific interests – like the Sarah Lawrence Christian Union; Cabaret, the weekly performance group; or New Kids on the Block, the transfer student group. All of these groups are run by interesting and devoted people, and are great ways to get involved beyond your coursework.
During your first weeks, ask returning students about what groups on campus they’re a part of. Come by the Club Fair. Go to a variety of early meetings, while you still have time, and find something that you’re passionate about and that’s a good fit.
Discover Bronxville and Yonkers
With New York City only a train ride away, it is easy to overlook Sarah Lawrence’s own backyard. There are a lot of great local places to go and hang out. Getting the lay of the land early on will prove beneficial as the weather turns cold and your need for a break from the campus increases.
One place to start looking is in our own Food and Guide sections, but nothing beats exploring with a new group of friends. There are a few campus favorites, like Slave to the Grind and The Malt House. You’ll quickly discover the wonders and quirkiness of Cross County Mall. There are also many places that students don’t frequent, but are within walking distance, waiting to be discovered.
Ace Your Interviews
The interviewing process we go through at Sarah Lawrence before registering for classes is utterly unique. Most schools have made the switch to electronic registration. At Sarah Lawrence, we interview with professors for the courses we are thinking about signing up for, and register for classes based on those interviews.
The interviews are really about you signing up for classes, and figuring out what is a good fit for you. Your don will have a lot of advice to offer you, as will returning students. Generally speaking, it is a good idea to conduct several interviews. For some, this will simply yield more courses to choose from. Others will be surprised to discover that the class they thought seemed only marginally interesting suddenly sounds like the greatest thing since sliced postmodernism.
As with any school, great teachers make for great classes. What makes a great Sarah Lawrence teacher, however, is trickier to define. Your involvement with faculty will be greater than is typical at most schools. Whereas in a lecture teachers need to be reasonably entertaining to engage the class and make the material relevant, in a seminar or workshop teachers need to know how to listen, guide discussion, and encourage new ways of thinking about problems. In conference, the semiweekly one-on-ones with your academic teachers, you need faculty who are well-informed, dedicated to your interests, and willing to push you to do your best without overwhelming you.
These are difficult traits to look for in a 15-minute interview, and no one has the perfect answer for how to do so. Often it simply comes down to gut, but there are things you can do to be prepared. Before you interview, know the course description and ask returning students about the teacher. Give some thought to the things you’d like to get out of the course and what you might like to work on in conference. The faculty will do some of the work in the interview, but keep in mind that these are meant to be conversations.
Go to Events
Once the semester kicks into gear, it will become harder to make time for plays, readings, concerts, lectures, dances, shows, and screenings. You’ll make friends with people who are involved in organizing or performing in these events, and you’ll go to support them. But sometimes, go to a completely surprising one just because. You might learn something or meet someone new.
Keep in mind that at Sarah Lawrence, content is king, and we don’t always invest in making our events overly attractive or enticing. What makes them great are the people there and the quality of the work.
Learn the Library
Start early on this. Get the general layout of the library down first, then figure out some of the essentials, like how to use the library’s catalog, and how to print in the computer labs. After that, tackle the thornier library website and learn how to search through the journals the campus subscribes to. The more you know early on, the easier it will be to use the resources on campus when it comes time to hunker down and get some work done. If you’re ever feeling lost, make use of the research librarians.
Also, while you’re still checking off things to do in preparation for school, go get a New York Public Library card. A lot of students end up doing research in the city – you might as well be prepared.
Find a Job
Most students with jobs work on campus. The first month of school, only students on work study can be hired for jobs. After that, everyone is game. Again, the advice here is to find the best fit for you. Most campus jobs don’t pay more than the campus minimum wage of $7.15 per hour, and you probably shouldn’t expect to work more than 10-15 hours per week. Students man the front desk at the gym, shelve and supervise at the library, drive shuttles around campus, call parents and alums asking for money, build sets for the theatre, act as research assistants for the faculty, and more. Students who work part-time off campus usually find a job in one of the shops in Bronxville.
Ask your fellow students for advice. They’ve had terrible jobs and great jobs, jobs that fit neatly into their schedule and jobs that took over their life. They can usually point you in the right direction when you’re looking to find someone who’s hiring.
Enjoy Yourself
This is college. For some of you, it will be a breathtakingly new experience. For others, it will be a breathtakingly new college. (For the rest of you knuckle-headed returning students who are reading this anyway, it will at least be a new year.) The general platitudes apply here: you get out of the experience what you put into it. However, if you’re not having fun, what is the point?
Sarah Lawrence is a hard and uncomfortable place that you will probably love and hate. Passions run high, but must be mediated by thoughtfulness and sincerity.
Like most schools, Sarah Lawrence sells itself on its education, when most American teenagers look to college foremost as a social experience. At Sarah Lawrence, we dare to live out both of these perspectives to their fullest. Welcome.