I'm back from the hiatus!(and still procrastinating...per usual)
So a little while back I was on the train into Boston and I was talking with one of my friends(also a rising sophomore) about students who were transferring to co-ed schools. My friend asked me why I picked Wellesley and while I gave her a generic answer at the time, I wanted to think more carefully about why I was here in the first place, and would I do it again if I had to?
(A quick disclaimer: I can only really speak about Wellesley because it's the only single-sex institution I have attended. Other schools might be different. )
When I first started telling people that I had plans to apply to Wellesley, some people were kind of impressed and others were horrified. Of the latter, the main arguments fell into the following scenarios:
1) "Are you a lesbian?"
-Um. No?
2) "OMG, Tiff how can you survive without guys? Won't it make you totally awkward around guys?? I could never do that!"
-No, you could...you just chose not to. And I know that we Wendys have a bad rep at parties as the over-dressed, overly flirty/suggestive princesses. Having been at a few parties at other schools, I can't say that this stereotype is completely undeserved and I can't say that being only around other female students was not a factor for this contrived behaviour. HOWEVER. Generations of Wellesley women before us have 1) survived all four years here without male students being 50% of the population and 2) GOTTEN MARRIED. I mean, my sister met a lovely guy after being here and they're getting married so her social skills really can't have been hindered too much. There is yet hope for us.
And finally:
3) "You know, Tiff...the world isn't only female. You're going to have to deal with guys at some point."
It is off this argument that I want to make my main statement.
First off, many a Wellesley woman has gone on to be high achieving in her career. Just pick up the Alumnae Magazine and start reading. So do not worry about that.
Yes, we at Wellesley are in a lovely, accepting bubble. Although some people here have said that this is a vicious and competitive place, I have never found it to be so. It is stressful at times because people are focused on doing their best here. This does not make Wellesley exceptional. That skill could have been picked up at any school of equal caliber, where motivated students flock by the hundreds. What does, however make us exceptional here is the incredibly unique atmosphere inside the classroom. Before I came to Wellesley, discussion of women's rights in high school was cursory. I myself did not particularly know or care about what was going on with women in America, or on a global scale. After coming here, it seemed like
everyone knew about and cared about womens' rights and role in society. It was intimidating at first, because like I said I knew very little about WR coming in, and I know I still have a lot to learn. But it spreads like
wildfire. The entire atmosphere here though encourages students to be proactive in asserting their basic rights(which is actually a lot harder than you would think) and promotes open discussion about these issues in class.
As of this moment, I do not believe that this environment could be achieved at a co-educational school. Not because the students and professors are not as smart but simply because it is a different environment. I know there is naturally some bias because we are all women here but I think that producing confident, compassionate students is the best thing this institution could possibly do. It's a simple fact: no one has as much at stake in the Womens' rights movement as women do. Regardless of what happens, men still go on being men. If
we do not care about it, who will?
My dad told me a few weeks ago that he thinks that one day, Wellesley will have to go co-ed, if for no other reason than someone claiming discrimination against male scholars. If we could find a way to admit male students and still encourage the type of frank discussion that we currently have, that would be my dream come true. If I found a guy that cared about the stuff I cared about as passionately as I do, I would marry him. So while I think Wellesley students could be a little more accepting of other viewpoints, they have a unique passion that frankly, I think the world needs more of. It is not the right place for everyone but for the right person I think that this type of education could make all the difference. Wellesley women constantly strive to be the change they want to see, which is a better world for us and for our daughters.
If I had to do it all over again, knowing what I know now, I would still pick Wellesley.
