After four years at a small all-girls high school, I was certain that I did not want to apply to a women’s college. I worried that I wouldn’t be prepared to assert myself confidently post-grad when navigating male dominated spaces if I attended a women’s college. Feeling empowered through my community was something that I valued, and I wanted to retain that strong sense of support that I felt at my all-girls high school. I also wanted a college with rigorous academics without feeling as though I was competing against my peers. Despite my college counselor’s advice that a women’s college experience fit the description of what I was searching for, I was staunchly against even considering applying to one and told him to not recommend any.
After looking at many small liberal arts colleges, I became intrigued by the possibility of attending a college that was a part of a consortium. I knew that I wanted a small college because I thrive in discussion-based classroom environments. I liked the idea of having small class sizes where I could foster meaningful relationships with my peers and professors but also have access to the resources and course selection that’s only usually available at mid-size colleges. I started looking into the 5C’s. After attending an info session on the consortium, I decided to peek at the Scripps website. Discovering that I could have the grounding sense of community and empowerment at a women’s’ college, but still take co-ed classes changed my whole perspective on the women’s college experience. I decided to apply and reluctantly told my college advisor that a women’s’ college was one of my top choices.
When making the decision on which college to attend, I thought about what I wanted out of my undergraduate experience and realized how truly important community was to me. When applying, the sense of community was only an abstract concept that seemed vaguely important but now it was a concrete factor that would impact not only my day-to-day experience for the next four years but the person who I would be after. I knew that at Scripps, I could feel challenged academically but also feel supported by and connected to my peers through the shared experience of having a marginalized gender identity. After being here for almost two years, I couldn’t imagine a better college experience for myself.
