Rachel Sunae Kim

Anonymous asked: You said you don't want to walk the teaching path, then what are you going to do with your major?

The honest answer? Not sure! I decided I wanted to become an elementary school teacher in my freshmen year of high school and I only applied to schools that allowed me to gain licensure after four years. When I first arrived, I planned out my licensure path with a professor from the education and child study department and started to realize the amount of classes I would have to take pertaining to the licensure. My first education class was about child development and listening to the professor’s anecdotes about her work with young children with hearing loss made me realize that I wanted to explore my career options. Recently, I became interested in social work and thus I want to explore a lot more because I realized there are so many ways to stay involved in education and children without being a teacher. I feel like teaching is the obvious choice, not to say that it’s a bad choice, but that I want to explore other career paths whether it’s therapy, social work, teaching older or younger students, school psyhologist, special education teacher/specialist etc.

sophedelicz asked: Hi! My name is Sophia and I was admitted ED I and I'll be a Smithie next year! Currently I'm interested in studying English and Education (I want to be an English teacher), and I was curious how balancing these two majors would work. Do you think it's possible to get a degree in both and be certified? Or do you think it would be best to wait until grad school to be certified? Thank yooou!

Hey Sophia! Congratulations! You don’t have to be a double major in order to gain licensure! Since you want to become an English teacher, I’m assuming you want to teach either middle or high school. You would major in English and take a few required courses such as Introduction to Learning Sciences. When you arrive at Smith, talk to the education department representative at the academic fair during orientation. (This is where I met Professor Etheredge who is now my advisor and going to Florence with me next year!) Once classes begin, you should meet with someone from education department (last year it was Andy Wood) to sit down and talk about the path you’re going on. They’ll tell you exactly which courses you need to take and answer any of your questions about the tests you’ll have to take for licensure. This doesn’t mean you can’t change your major/track during your four years here :) The education and child study department is fantastic! Let me know if you have more questions.

Celebrating Holi at Smith College

Anonymous asked: Hey There! I'm attending Smith this fall and i was wondering if there is any advice you have before coming (e.g. summer courses, reading specific books, choosing classes)? I really want to make the first year as stress-free as it possibly can be in terms of being ahead academically- what would you recommend?

I think you’re already over stressing yourself! This is your last summer before college so enjoy it as much as possible! However, here are some pieces of advice you can follow if you choose to do so:

1.     Read and re-read old books you love and new books you’ve been waiting to read! You will find that between the amount of books and articles given to you by your professors, you won’t have a lot of free time to read leisurely (at least not without pushing aside a book you have to read for class).

2.     Look through the course catalog even though you will have plenty of time to do that during orientation. Highlight or write down the courses you’re interested in and begin to play around with the kind of the schedule you want for your first year. Do you want to take morning classes or afternoon classes? Would you like to try an evening class? Do you want to have classes on every day of the week? How much time do you want between classes? These are all questions you can ask during orientation, but it doesn’t hurt to look through it now!

3.     If you’re planning on taking a language at Smith, especially a language you studied throughout high school, you may want to find ways to use it over the summer! Find a language partner, keep a penpal whose native language is the language you’re learning or at least watch films and listen to music in that language!

There is not a lot you can do to prepare academically for college. I am not saying that because college is going to be so difficult it will blow your mind, but because it’s not all about academics and you will regret it if you spend your last summer before college reviewing AP biology notes because you want to take a higher level biology course at Smith. Again, it doesn’t hurt, but it is entirely unnecessary!!! ENJOY OUR SUMMER & CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR ACCEPTANCE!

Anonymous asked: What has your experience as an Education major been like? Are you majoring in something else too?

You’ll have to ask me a more specific question because I can talk for hours about the Education and Child Study department at Smith! My major is Education and Child Study. I am considering a history minor and am studying Italian (but not as a major or minor, but for my enjoyment and so that I can go abroad to Florence!). I love that Smith has an open curriculum because I was able to take an education class during my first semester rather than wait until I finished any requirements.

The classes I’ve taken so far are:

-First Year Seminar: Playtime, Games and Creativity (not an education course, but definitely related & was taught my an education professor)

-Child and Adolescent Growth and Development

-Foundations and Issues in Early Childhood

-Introduction to Learning Sciences

-Comparative Education

-Individual Differences Among Learners

The professors are excellent and care so much about us as individuals. They are always available to talk about the paths we want to take whether it’s teaching or something else in education. My advisor is an education and child study professor and she has been so supportive in helping me shape my major as well as future career choices because I decided I didn’t want to be on the teaching track. Definitely let me know if you have a specific question about a class, licensure or anything!