And give forward, by contributing to the class of 1978 FullFill the Potential scholarship fund. See link in the sidebar. These are (some) of the women you will support!
Annie De Groot - Class of 1978
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Women of the World (Next Generation)!
Here are some wonderful pictures of the next generation of "women of the world". Lou, Fatima, Tatendra and Carmen attended our class reunion. Believe in them! they will change the world !
And give forward, by contributing to the class of 1978 FullFill the Potential scholarship fund. See link in the sidebar. These are (some) of the women you will support!
Annie De Groot - Class of 1978
And give forward, by contributing to the class of 1978 FullFill the Potential scholarship fund. See link in the sidebar. These are (some) of the women you will support!
Annie De Groot - Class of 1978
Reunion Update - May 25th 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Giving Forward
Hard to believe but it has been five years since we established "Fullfill the Potential". Who knew that the great recession would hit just as we started (remember it was June 2008)? I am the eternal optimist but fundraising for this project has been a HUGE struggle. But - no pain, no gain. And the one thing that I am sure we want to leave as a legacy for the next generation is the idea that - Once you set your mind to it, you can do it. And do it we did.
The numbers are not final yet, but we are closing in on $200,000 for our very special fund, and with just a few more contributions before our class reunion next week, we can make it! (Here is the website - select Class of 1978 FTP/Wallace Coulter Foundation Scholarship): http://www.smith.edu/giving/
Before you jump to click, here's what you should know. Your support for this project makes it possible to support Pooja from Tanzania, Sara from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Farzana from Bangladesh, Metasebia from Ethiopia. Their stories are in these pages and they are the hopes and dreams of the next generation. They are "Women of the World" ready to take on leadership positions and make change.
Read their stories and see their pictures on this site.
And know - know that you are giving forward in a way that is a unique as the school that you call your alma mater.
And now: Click. http://www.smith.edu/giving/
The numbers are not final yet, but we are closing in on $200,000 for our very special fund, and with just a few more contributions before our class reunion next week, we can make it! (Here is the website - select Class of 1978 FTP/Wallace Coulter Foundation Scholarship): http://www.smith.edu/giving/
Before you jump to click, here's what you should know. Your support for this project makes it possible to support Pooja from Tanzania, Sara from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Farzana from Bangladesh, Metasebia from Ethiopia. Their stories are in these pages and they are the hopes and dreams of the next generation. They are "Women of the World" ready to take on leadership positions and make change.
Read their stories and see their pictures on this site.
And know - know that you are giving forward in a way that is a unique as the school that you call your alma mater.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Tatenda Dawn Mahlanza, Class of 2015, from Zimbabwe
Here is Tatenda in her own words! Just one more example of the amazing young women our Class of 1978 Scholarship Fund is able to support!
I am a sophomore from Zimbabwe and I am a Neuroscience Major and a Culture, Health and Science Minor. I applied to Smith because my mentor happened to be a Smith alum. I still look up to her and admire the strong-willed, successful woman she is. I am convinced that Smith College contributed a great deal to who she has become. Looking back at the two years I have been here at Smith, I am amazed at my personal development thus far. Here I have the opportunity to learn with great insight, the courage to question aspects of my world and the power to effect change in some way. Not many Zimbabwean women are given such a luxury. I wish to use this education I am receiving to open up doors to a career in medicine and to be a public health advocate for women’s health in my country.
I come from a society with a debilitating health care system. The economically disadvantaged people are denied their right to adequate medical care because the system has been weakened and corrupted by a stifling political climate. In 2006, after my family had failed to pay the full co-payment amount, I watched helplessly as my aunt passed away in a public hospital waiting room, right in front of the doctors and nurses. I was angry, shaken and confused. I could not understand how professionals who took an oath to serve, would do absolutely nothing for a critically ill patient. I could not understand the lack of accountability and responsibility for human life. It is from this dark episode of my life that I felt a strong calling to medicine and public health.
Smith College is giving me the valuable tools I need to become a successful healthcare professional. From the rigorous curriculum, to the thought-provoking discussions in and out of class, to the empowering leadership programs, I know I am being prepared extremely well. And I am excited!
Over the summer I will be participating in the Smith Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship. My research is on axon-glial interactions in the zebrafish forebrain. I will also be a teaching assistant and mentor in the Smith Summer Science and Engineering Program for High School girls. I will also volunteer at the Clinton Health Access Initiative in Harare, Zimbabwe for the last month of the summer.
Tatendra also attended our class dinner at Reunion. See pictures from that event here. http://smith78.blogspot.com/2013/05/reunion-update-may-25th-2013.html
Tatendra also attended our class dinner at Reunion. See pictures from that event here. http://smith78.blogspot.com/2013/05/reunion-update-may-25th-2013.html
Monday, April 15, 2013
Giang Nguyen, from Viet Nam - A graduating Smithie!
Huong Giang 2013 Vietnam (See Rally Day Picture!)
Huong heard about Smith College from Smith College Alums who were Vietnamese. She noticed that Smith alumnae were outstanding among all of the other young women that she knew at home. She was really attracted by the idea that a college like Smith could be so empowering for women.
Back in Viet Nam, gender inequality is still very common, and so, for Huong, coming to Smith meant feeling much more empowered. She is very grateful that she has opportunities at Smith to grow and learn. She will graduate this May, as a Math major.
Huong is passionate about going back to her own country to empower other young women the way that Smith women have empowered her. She feels that one way that she can give back is to educate women. She is particularly interested in microfinance. She plans to work on getting the right credentials to do that before she goes back to Viet Nam.
She arrived at Smith from a special high school for gifted students in Viet Nam, where her mother was a math teacher. Very early on, she benefited from training in chemistry and computers. Smith gave her the confidence to still learn even after she leaves school. She is sure that Smith gave her the skills to tackle anything in the future.
In the picture (of Rally Day!) below, Huong is on the left. Come celebrate her graduation with her in May!
Huong heard about Smith College from Smith College Alums who were Vietnamese. She noticed that Smith alumnae were outstanding among all of the other young women that she knew at home. She was really attracted by the idea that a college like Smith could be so empowering for women.
Back in Viet Nam, gender inequality is still very common, and so, for Huong, coming to Smith meant feeling much more empowered. She is very grateful that she has opportunities at Smith to grow and learn. She will graduate this May, as a Math major.
Huong is passionate about going back to her own country to empower other young women the way that Smith women have empowered her. She feels that one way that she can give back is to educate women. She is particularly interested in microfinance. She plans to work on getting the right credentials to do that before she goes back to Viet Nam.
She arrived at Smith from a special high school for gifted students in Viet Nam, where her mother was a math teacher. Very early on, she benefited from training in chemistry and computers. Smith gave her the confidence to still learn even after she leaves school. She is sure that Smith gave her the skills to tackle anything in the future.
In the picture (of Rally Day!) below, Huong is on the left. Come celebrate her graduation with her in May!
Sara Loric - another amazing FTP-er supported by the Class of '78 Scholarship Fund!
Sara Loric Class of 2016 From Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sara attended UWCiM (United World College in Mostar) before coming to Smith. The Davis foundation provided her with a scholarship, and she chose Smith because the student body that was clearly very international. She was also fascinated by the Pickering engineering program.
While she is really interested in Robotics, and wants to go to grad school – she is not entirely sure that she sees herself practicing engineering after graduate school, mainly because --while she does want to practice engineering after grad school-- she would also love to be leader of a company in engineering field (probably back home) and show everyone that women are capable of doing that job.
Sara attended UWCiM (United World College in Mostar) before coming to Smith. The Davis foundation provided her with a scholarship, and she chose Smith because the student body that was clearly very international. She was also fascinated by the Pickering engineering program.
While she is really interested in Robotics, and wants to go to grad school – she is not entirely sure that she sees herself practicing engineering after graduate school, mainly because --while she does want to practice engineering after grad school-- she would also love to be leader of a company in engineering field (probably back home) and show everyone that women are capable of doing that job.
Metasebia Aberra '15 and Farzana Kibria'15 on Fullfilling the potential
Current sophomore students Farzana and Metsebia talked to Annie De Groot, class of '78, at a recent lunch for "FTP scholars" about why they came to Smith College and what their education at Smith means to them. Annie has transcribed her notes here, and has the permission of Farzana and Metsebia (and the other young women featured on this blog) to share their stories.
Farzana Kribia '15 is specializing in Neuroscience. She's originally from Bangladesh, but she lived in Japan for part of her high school education. She actually came to Smith College because her 8th grade social studies teacher in Japan was from Smith College !
Since Farzana has had the opportunity to live in a few different countries, she is acutely aware of constraints affecting women in her home country. Young women get married at a very young age and they have children as soon as they get married. Because they are busy with children, they don’t get any advanced education.
She really liked the idea that the College was going to make a leader out of her. She sees herself as a doctor in the future, and she's really interested in helping the uninsured. One reason that she's motivated to go into medicine is that her grandmother died because the hospital did not have enough doctors--or that was what they told them. Farzana suspects that the real reason was that the doctors were asking for a bribe to take care of her grandmother, but her grandfather couldn't pay it. She feels that this type of problem is quite common in under-served areas so that is why she is determined to become a doctor.
She'll be shadowing class of 78'er Annie De Groot at Annie's free clinic for the uninsured (Clinica Esperanza/Hope Clinic) in Providence Rhode Island, this summer, using her Praxis internship funds from Smith College. We'll be sure to post an update!
+Metasebia+Aberra(Right).jpg)
Metasebia Aberra (right) is from Ethiopia. She heard about Smith College from her older sister as she was applying for colleges. Her sister, who went to University of Michigan, decided to be a doctor at a young age after a death in the family caused by HIV/AIDS . Metasebia followed her sister's footsteps and came to the US for education headed to the direction of medicine. Smith gave Metasebia a wide range of options and even more opportunities to explore her interests. During the Summer following her first year she did SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship) when she worked with Professor David Bickar on Myoglobin. She really loves the topic she is working on and now, she’s actually more interested in doing research than going to Medical school.
Smith has given Metasebia a place make intercultural connections and take on several leadership positions as an E-board member in SACSA (Smith African Caribbean Students Association), a member of Reslife as well as a founding member for ESA (Ethiopian Students Association for the five colleges). She might want to get into biotech. Metsebia has a really interesting idea for her future career. She sees herself investigating the effects of traditional medicine from her home country - working to understand the mechanism of action of traditional medicine so that it can be used properly to improve human health. She intends on giving back to her country by generating income for the country through her research and through the translation of her finding on traditional medicine, making drugs more accessible to the remote areas of the country. Now that's a wonderful aspiration !
Farzana Kribia '15 is specializing in Neuroscience. She's originally from Bangladesh, but she lived in Japan for part of her high school education. She actually came to Smith College because her 8th grade social studies teacher in Japan was from Smith College !
Since Farzana has had the opportunity to live in a few different countries, she is acutely aware of constraints affecting women in her home country. Young women get married at a very young age and they have children as soon as they get married. Because they are busy with children, they don’t get any advanced education.
She really liked the idea that the College was going to make a leader out of her. She sees herself as a doctor in the future, and she's really interested in helping the uninsured. One reason that she's motivated to go into medicine is that her grandmother died because the hospital did not have enough doctors--or that was what they told them. Farzana suspects that the real reason was that the doctors were asking for a bribe to take care of her grandmother, but her grandfather couldn't pay it. She feels that this type of problem is quite common in under-served areas so that is why she is determined to become a doctor.
She'll be shadowing class of 78'er Annie De Groot at Annie's free clinic for the uninsured (Clinica Esperanza/Hope Clinic) in Providence Rhode Island, this summer, using her Praxis internship funds from Smith College. We'll be sure to post an update!
+Metasebia+Aberra(Right).jpg)
Metasebia Aberra (right) is from Ethiopia. She heard about Smith College from her older sister as she was applying for colleges. Her sister, who went to University of Michigan, decided to be a doctor at a young age after a death in the family caused by HIV/AIDS . Metasebia followed her sister's footsteps and came to the US for education headed to the direction of medicine. Smith gave Metasebia a wide range of options and even more opportunities to explore her interests. During the Summer following her first year she did SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship) when she worked with Professor David Bickar on Myoglobin. She really loves the topic she is working on and now, she’s actually more interested in doing research than going to Medical school.
Smith has given Metasebia a place make intercultural connections and take on several leadership positions as an E-board member in SACSA (Smith African Caribbean Students Association), a member of Reslife as well as a founding member for ESA (Ethiopian Students Association for the five colleges). She might want to get into biotech. Metsebia has a really interesting idea for her future career. She sees herself investigating the effects of traditional medicine from her home country - working to understand the mechanism of action of traditional medicine so that it can be used properly to improve human health. She intends on giving back to her country by generating income for the country through her research and through the translation of her finding on traditional medicine, making drugs more accessible to the remote areas of the country. Now that's a wonderful aspiration !
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