Admission & Financial Aid Sylvie Wolff '25

Hi! My name is Sylvie and I’m from Baltimore, Maryland. I’m a sophomore majoring in Environmental Studies. Other than classes for my major, I’ve loved exploring through the open curriculum. I’m taking Portuguese at UMass through the Five College Consortium and it has been an amazing experience – I hope to continue in the department and study abroad in Portugal next year! 

On campus, I’m a DJ and on the executive board for 89.3 WAMH, our student-run radio station and I live in Marsh House, the arts theme house. In town, I volunteer at the Jones Library, leading a Dungeons and Dragons campaign for local middle schoolers. I also write from time to time for the The Amherst Student, Amherst's student newspaper.

One of my favorite features of Amherst is the Norwottuck Rail Trail, which stretches 25 miles from Belchertown to Northampton and runs right through campus. I'm constantly in awe of how beautiful Amherst is, and I’m so thankful that we have access to gorgeous views from almost anywhere on campus. 

I’m excited to share more details about Amherst with you! Please email me with any questions: swolff25@amherst.edu

4 May 2023

I blogged about transportation in and around Amherst last fall, but decided it’s time for an update!

Saferide is a free vehicle service that runs around campus from 7pm to 2am every day. I have used it only twice because I always forget about how nice it is, but it’s such an amazing resource to get you from place to place safely, especially when it’s dark and there’s inclement weather. All you need to do is call the Saferide number and tell them where you are and where you want to go, and they’ll be there in less than 10 minutes. 

I’ve used the PVTA more in the last month than ever before, mainly to get to UMass for class. I injured my foot running and found myself unable to walk or bike for about 3 weeks, and the town turned my favorite street for free parking near UMass into a tow zone, so the PVTA it was. I realized that buses from Amherst College to UMass run especially often and on schedule, and was able to hop off the bus at UMass 5 minutes before class started and hop on to go back to Amherst 5 minutes after it ended. Super convenient, and I’ve been using that time sitting on the bus to do Duolingo German (it’s coming along slowly; I don’t think Duolingo is a very effective way to learn a language). I do miss biking though, and am excited to get back to it once the rain clears up.

Biking culture on campus has celebrated a big milestone this month with the launch of the Tread Shed, a student/faculty/staff-run bike co-op. Partially overseen by the Office of Sustainability as well, their mission is to make biking accessible on campus by getting people bikes and teaching them how to maintain them. The project began in the summer of 2022 and they now are officially open, in a garage on College Street right between two academic buildings and across from Val. 

In terms of defunct transportation, a fun little pit stop right off Main Street is the old Amherst train station, which was closed in 2014 when the Vermonter (the train I take home to Baltimore) was rerouted to a different line that goes through Northampton. I sometimes imagine the convenience of walking five minutes to the train station, hopping on, and being home in 8 hours, but oh well. Northampton is still pretty convenient.

Thanks for reading! I’m chugging away at finals but am happy to answer any questions you might have over email. Reach out to swolff25@amherst.edu.

27 April 2023

Today I’ll be writing about Amherst’s health services, an important part of student life that often goes unconsidered when thinking about what college might be right for you. I feel so lucky that Amherst has such good health resources, and have relied on them quite a bit during my time here.

General health services

It’s easy to make an appointment at Keefe Health Center by phone, and they do have walk-ins if necessary for routine checkups, physical exams, and treatment for illness and injuries. I’ve come to the health center with tendinitis, mono, allergies, and much more, and they’ve always been able to fit me in same-day.

Reproductive/sexual health care (for all genders!)

The health center provides pap smears and clinical breast exams, free STI testing and treatment, and Dr. Jones writes prescriptions for PrEP (a medication to reduce the chance of HIV infection) and the birth control pill, as well as other contraceptives requiring a prescription. Free condoms, oral dams, and lubrication are available at the health center, the campus center, and in most dorm bathrooms. The easy availability of these resources really encourages their use – I’d say that most people I know have taken advantage of at least some of these resources.

The health center also provides free pregnancy testing and referrals for obstetric care. Additionally, they provide initial counseling for students considering abortive services, and work closely with local gynecological groups who will see students for urgent appointments if needed.

Long-term care services

I take medication that needs to be refrigerated. The health center receives the package from the pharmacy and puts it in their medical fridge, and once it’s time to take it I just walk in and they provide a room and all the supplies I need to take the medication. I also am able to get my blood drawn at the health center for any labs that my doctor back home orders.

Mental health services

Amherst has a counseling center that provides same-day crisis appointments, single session appointments, regular, bi-weekly individual therapy, and group sessions. I’ve scheduled an urgent appointment once before, and they were very responsive and able to set me up with bi-weekly sessions soon after. They also can manage medication and provide referrals for outside mental health providers.

Emergency services

I’d be remiss not to mention Amherst College Emergency Medical Services (ACEMS), a student-run team of on-call EMTs you can call anytime you have a medical emergency while on campus. If you’re interested in being on the other side of things, you can also take a class, try out, and join ACEMS!

Health services also provides gender affirming care spanning across mental and physical health, which I don’t know as much about, so I’d encourage you to visit their website for more information about that, as well as anything else I didn’t cover in this post. I hope this gave you a window into some of the healthcare resources you’d have at Amherst, and please feel free to reach out with any questions!

20 April 2023

Hi everyone! I’m writing this on the second day back to school after April break. Like fall break, we got Monday and Tuesday off for a four day weekend. I met up with my mom in New York – she took the train from Baltimore and I took it from Northampton – and we had a really fast but fun trip, spending most of our time in Brooklyn and the East Village. 

We’re getting down to the wire with only three-ish weeks left of the semester, which means that I’m almost halfway through college! While the sophomore slump can be real, it’s also a time to stand back and reflect on what’s worked, what hasn’t, and what I’m looking forward to in my next two years. Here’s what I’ve been thinking about:

I’ve been taking Portuguese at UMass for the past two semesters thanks to the Five College Consortium, and it’s been one highlight of my college experience (I wrote about the consortium a few months back if you want to learn more). I grew up speaking Portuguese at home because my dad is from Brazil, but I’ve never formally learned the language or been connected to any sort of Brazilian community beyond my dad and my brother. It’s been a special experience that has helped me feel empowered and connected to a big chunk of who I am. 

Study abroad has been on a lot of sophomores’ minds this month, since we had to submit a form to the Global Education Office on April first to confirm our plans to study abroad either next fall, next spring, or the whole year. A few of my friends are (sadly) going abroad the whole year, but I and most people I know are planning to be abroad just next spring. I’m planning for a Portuguese-immersion program, but a big back-and-forth for me has been whether I should go to Lisbon, Portugal (closer to friends abroad and more accessible travel) or Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (where my dad’s family and friends live). I’ll keep you posted about my decision making – I have plenty of time left to decide – and definitely plan to give you more info in the future about studying abroad at Amherst.

With the semester winding down, I’m looking forward to my summer job. I’m working at Hawthorne Valley, an organization in upstate New York centered around nature, regenerative agriculture, and education. Specifically, I’ll be working for their farm camp as an overnight camp counselor for 8-12 year olds. I’m passionate about both regenerative farming and working with kids, so this is an exciting opportunity to blend those together and be outside for an entire summer! I’m grateful that Amherst’s small classes have allowed me to get to know my professors so it wasn’t difficult to find references for the application process.

I’m super excited about my tentative schedule next semester. Here’s what I’m planning to take:

• Humanity in Nature (Environmental Studies)
• Amazonia in International Relations (Political Science)
• Oceanography (Geology)
• Portuguese Conversation (UMass Portuguese)

Emphasis on planning to take. This is all in flux and I plan to also shop some courses in the fall – and maybe also take a music lesson, which are now free to all Amherst students! 

Feel free to email me with any questions: swolff25@amherst.edu

13 April 2023

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday were no-jacket days, Tuesday I got a sunburn, and Wednesday I wore shorts. Campus has felt especially like a college campus in the past few days and it’s definitely given us a little extra boost at a point in the semester when we all need it. 

Some of the most joyful and seasonally appropriate things I’ve done in the past few days include:

Saturday: Ran to Trader Joe’s while my boyfriend biked alongside. We took a nice long break on the sidewalk outside the store with a juice, some dates, and a little pack of seaweed before turning back. Amherst was hosting a track meet and a baseball game, so we lingered a little while to watch the javelin throwers. 

Sunday: Studied outside at Amherst Coffee with a cold drink in hand, got frozen yogurt at GoBerry, and laid on the first-year quad.

Monday: Studied outside on the FYQ for as long as my computer battery could handle it and I could avert my eyes from the constant tour groups going by (Be a Mammoth was this week – I’ll talk more about that later). I also went for a run later in the day on the Rail Trail and stopped at the quad once again for a little more sun.

Tuesday: My Global Environmental Politics professor held class outside which was great for morale but not quite as great for keeping my attention. It’s such an interesting class though, so I was able to hang on. After my last class of the day, Creative Nonfiction, my friend and I (kind of) watched the baseball game from Memorial Hill.

Wednesday: Stared out the window for a cumulative ~3 hours and especially enjoyed my bike ride to UMass for Portuguese.

I mentioned earlier that Be a Mammoth was this week! I’m not an admissions office insider so I don’t have the full scoop, but I believe this is the first in-person admitted students visit since before Covid! It was really fun to see all the extra faces on campus (seeing people you don’t know at Amherst can be a rare occurrence) and they got great weather for it. Some of my friends have had admitted students in their classes and there have been extra tours going around campus. I’m a little envious because I didn’t get to visit any schools before committing to Amherst, and it seems like a fun experience that really gives you a good sense of the school. Yesterday I sat on a panel for the Five College Consortium and talked about my experience with Portuguese classes at UMass and the Five College radio community. I had two dads come up to me at the end of the panel, one spoke to me in Portuguese and the other told me about his experience doing radio in college. It was pretty cool and I honestly learned a few things about the consortium that I didn’t before – like that students can participate in theater and dance performances at other schools!

This week is also the housing selection process for next fall, which can be either a good or bad thing. Every student is assigned a housing number from 1-1800ish, and the higher number you get, the further back you are in line to pick your room. Rising seniors get the lowest chunk, from 1-500ish, then rising juniors, and so on. If you have a housing accommodation, your number will be lowered accordingly. Since I’m living in the Humphries House food co-op next semester, which is a theme house, I went through the housing process back in February and it was definitely a bit lower stress than the regular process. If I keep living in theme housing, I might never have to go through the regular housing process at Amherst… 

Today is supposed to reach 86 degrees, so I’ll be staying out of the sun and trying not to die of heatstroke. Thanks for reading! Email me with any questions: swolff25@amherst.edu

6 April 2023

Today is the first official day of spring in my book, since the temperatures are finally starting to creep up into the 70s. We have some warm and sunny days ahead of us and I’m looking forward to writing about some of the best warm weather activities at Amherst. For today’s blog, though, I’ll be sharing a few things that I didn’t know about Amherst before coming here that I think are pretty special!

The Charles Hamilton Houston Internship Program

The Houston program, which is part of the Loeb Center for Career Exploration and Planning, is designed to help Amherst students find meaningful summer internships. There is a portfolio of programs that have been vetted by the Loeb Center, and you can also get guidance from the Loeb Center throughout the year to find a summer opportunity of your own. Either way, you can get funding – automatically if you get an internship that is part of the program, or if you apply for funding for the internship you found. To get into the program, you need to

• Attend at least one internship preparation workshop (like Intro to Networking, Intro to Cover Letter Writing, or Intro to Resume Building),
• Get your resume reviewed and approved, and 
• Complete a short application online

Once you’re in, you only need to complete the online application once per year to stay in the program and maintain your access to all its benefits. My internship last summer with the Forest Service didn’t have any money to pay me, so I applied to the Houston Program, applied for and won funding, and was able to make good money and have a great summer experience.

Take Your Professor Out/Take Your Staff Member Out (TYPO/TYSO)

The college will pay for you to go out to dinner with your professor! You can do this once per semester, but if you hack the system and coordinate with friends, you could go multiple times. You need to go with at least one other student, and once you fill out the form and get approved, you’re set to go! This is something unique to a smaller school and gives you the opportunity to get to know your professors outside of the classroom context. I actually have a TYPO dinner tonight with some friends and my Global Environmental Politics professor!

Schupf and SURF

The Schupf Fellows Program provides funding and room/board for twenty rising sophomores each summer to conduct summer research in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Freshmen with a clearly defined research focus and a supporting faculty member can submit a proposal in the early spring, and if approved, can live and work on campus over the summer, gaining research experience and close mentorship from their professor.

The Summer Science Undergraduate Research Program is open to rising sophomores and juniors, and designed for STEM students to conduct research with a faculty member. Students submit a proposal in the spring and if approved, stay over the summer to conduct research on campus (with room and board provided).

Both Schupf and SURF last eight weeks and culminate in a poster presentation in the early fall. I haven’t participated in either, but know people who have, and both programs offered really valuable research opportunities early in their undergrad careers.

All three programs are widely taken advantage of and unique to the small, undergrad-focused environment that Amherst offers. As always, feel free to reach out with any questions – my email is swolff25@amherst.edu

30 March 2023

Pre registration is next week, which means we meet with our advisors and select our classes for next semester (I have yet to look at course options for next semester and definitely need to get on it). This will be my third-to-last time registering for Amherst classes, since I’ll be abroad next spring and then it’s my senior year! I’m realizing how many classes I’ve taken during my time here and thought I’d reflect on some of my favorites to give you a taste of what Amherst classes have to offer.

First semester freshman year:

Intro to Sociology was a really great introduction to college writing. I was intimidated coming to Amherst classes from high school, and sociology gave me a lot of confidence in my writing and speaking skills. The most interesting essay we wrote was comparing college students and low income mothers’ awareness of their socioeconomic place in society. We also covered the 2008 financial crisis and the plight of the middle class, and the housing market and evictions. 

I landed randomly in Literature and Culture of the Philippines in a moment of panic during add-drop, stayed, and really loved the class. This is a subject that I had zero background in and I learned a lot! The class covered a lot of history I never learned in high school and was a very relaxed environment. We read Noli Me Tangere by Jose Rizal, which is considered the national book of the Philippines, along with a few other novels, short stories, and some movies. 

Second semester freshman year:

I took Evangelical Christianity because it was taught by my advisor and I’ve always been interested in religion, particularly through a political lens. This class was fascinating. We started back in the 16th century and learned about the evolution of evangelicalism in the United States and abroad, landing in modern day with a book about modern day evangelicals and evangelicalism’s connection to the far right. Studying modern day evangelicalism’s connection to American politics was made much richer by all that context. I wrote my final research paper about Chip and Joana Gaines from “Fixer Upper” and evangelicalism’s connection to material culture. I’m definitely hoping to take another religion class!

First semester sophomore year:

Intro Statistics is a required course for the Environmental Studies major and I was initially dreading it because math was my least favorite subject in high school. On the first day of class, Professor Matheson told us that she considers herself bad at math and emphasized that her class wasn’t a math course. I ended up learning a lot about how to evaluate real world data and practice designing studies of my own, with very little actual math involved. The class was super hands-on and we’d rarely be sitting in our seats for the entire period. I get to apply what I learned in this class quite often, particularly in science and social science courses, but in real life as well!

Intro to Environmental Science was my first science course since high school chemistry four years earlier. I learned through this class how interdisciplinary science can be, got to go outside often for labs, learned how to read scientific literature, and really enjoyed Professor Hewitt’s lectures.

Next semester, I’m definitely planning to take another Portuguese class, since it’ll be my last semester before I study abroad and I want to get in as much practice as I can. I’ll take at least one environmental studies class, and for the rest, I’m not sure yet but I’m excited to figure it out! I’ll keep you posted.

23 March 2023

Hi everyone! It’s Thursday night after a long week, which isn’t quite over yet (I have one class tomorrow). I’m happy to be back at school and excited for the rest of the semester, but this week has been a tough one for no particular reason. 

I always find it difficult to adjust back to school after any sort of break where I leave campus, but since I’ve learned this about myself, I’ve been able to prioritize taking care of myself during the first week back. One of the most important things I’ve gotten better at while in college is to know how and when to go easy on myself. You don’t have to look far in life to find stress, and it doesn’t help to impose it on yourself unnecessarily! You’re your own best ally, especially when times get tough.

Here’s what I do when I’m struggling a little more than normal.

Get outside and save time for fun

The weather has been warming up (finally) and daylight savings started, which is a huge deal for me since I struggle with the cold and dark of winter. This week I finally broke my bike back out and I’ve been riding it everywhere. I got back on the Rail Trail for the first time since last fall on Tuesday afternoon and went for a long ride instead of doing my homework (another thing I’ve learned:  as an adult, you can prioritize whatever you want, and one of your priorities can and should be time to enjoy yourself). I also managed to get outside for a run today and spent a lot of time this week meandering a little more than usual just to extend my outdoor time.

Eat regularly and well

I’ve heard that you should try to eat every three hours for your mental and physical health, and I totally believe it. College is so busy and it’s so easy to forget to nourish yourself. When you’re eating three meals a day in a dining hall, it’s easy to feel like what you eat is out of your control. I have a few dietary restrictions, and I am definitely guilty of not eating enough, especially not enough protein and fiber. I’m a big fan of snacking – I never leave Val (the dining hall) without grabbing an apple or a banana with some peanut butter and I always carry granola bars and dates (my recent favorite) around in my bag. 

Sleep and rest a lot

This is such common advice, but it’s really important. I not only try to sleep a little extra at night when life gets stressful, but take time to rest during the day. For me this week, this has looked like laying in bed for half an hour on TikTok before dinner, taking a fifteen minute walk to music in the middle of a study session, looking out the window, or just closing my eyes for a few seconds. It can feel like you’re in a mad dash to get everything done, but rest is so so important – you can only run around for so long before burning out.

Prioritize connections!

This week, I called home a little more than usual, spent plenty of time with friends, and gave my loved ones (and myself) extra care.

17 March 2023

Spring break is wrapping up, and we’re entering college decision season – a scary and exciting time. I never had the chance to visit campus before committing to Amherst, but for those of you who will be visiting in the coming months, here are some campus spots I’d recommend you check out on your own:

Academic buildings

Frost Library is our main library and somewhere where you’ll probably spend a lot of time as a student. Situated on the first-year quad, it’s quite central and you get some pretty mountain views from the top floors. I’d recommend checking out some of the study spots to get a feel for the space and help you picture where you might fit in. 

The Science Center is one of the newest buildings on campus, finished in 2018. It’s on the edge of campus, west of the first-year quad and close to some upperclassmen dorms. Even if you’re not a STEM-oriented student, you’ll probably find yourself in the Science Center, whether it’s for class, clubs, guest speakers, or studying. Check out some of the classrooms and labs!

Fayerweather Hall is the home of studio art, art history, and some other humanities classes. It’s an older building and really beautiful. If you see yourself taking art classes at Amherst, see if you can peek your head into an unlocked studio.

Residential buildings

With a few exceptions, all students live on campus for all four years. As a freshman, you’ll live in one of the seven residence halls on the first-year quad (James, Stearns, Charles Pratt, Williston, North, South, Appleton). You probably won’t be able to see inside unless you’re on a tour, since they are locked and accessible only with a college ID, but you should take a walk around the quad to get an idea of where you’ll be living your first year.

There are other dorms scattered all around campus (and slightly off campus) for upperclassmen as well, and you could stroll by those as well if you have time!

Dining

Valentine Dining Hall is our only dining hall on campus, and I’d recommend you get a meal here if you can. I never considered food while applying to college, and it’s turned out to be a much bigger factor in my experience than I expected. 

Off campus: I’d recommend you grab a meal in town as well! My favorite restaurant in Amherst by far is Momo, a Tibetan place, and I strongly recommend the Daytheuk Neuma or the Gonneu. 

For fun

The Beneski Museum of Natural History has an impressive collection of fossils, minerals, and other specimens. It’s also home to our geology department.

The Mead Art Museum has a super impressive collection. It’s open to the public and new exhibitions are put on display throughout the year.

The Emily Dickinson Museum is a step off campus, right on Main Street. There, you can get a guided tour of the poet’s birthplace and residence and learn more about her life and work.

If you have time to get outside, I’d recommend you head over to the Wildlife Sanctuary and the Rail Trail for a bike ride or walk. You can follow the trails to the Book and Plow Farm as well and see what the student farmers are up to.

If you can’t visit, don’t despair! There is plenty of content online to get you familiar with Amherst’s campus, including on social media. Follow Amherst on Instagram and look at the list of who they’re following to find the accounts of clubs and other organizations to get more of an idea of what student life is like. 

And if you can make it over, here’s a link to the campus map: https://www.amherst.edu/visiting/map

5 March 2023

Hi! I’m finally sitting down to write a blog post about the Environmental Studies major – something I’ve been meaning to write about for a while. Please feel free to email me at swolff25@amherst.edu with questions.

Why I chose the major:

I came into college undecided, but convinced that I would never take a STEM class again. My first semester, I took a first year seminar (a writing-based class required for all first years), a political science class, a sociology class, and an English class. Way too much reading and writing for one semester; I actually missed STEM. 

I didn’t love all my classes my first semester, but I did really enjoy sociology and seriously considered continuing in the major. After talking to my sociology TA and professor, I decided to give some environmental studies classes a go, since I really wanted to leave college with more of a specialty, cared a lot about environmental issues, and liked that the field of enviro was still quite broad and would allow me to use social science skills, which I felt were a strength of mine.

My decision was reinforced by most everyone I encountered in the major and the classes I started to take. While I had a split second second semester of freshman year where I almost dropped Enviro for History, I decided to stay on. 

My path through the major:

Second semester of freshman year, I took Intro to Environmental Studies and Intro to Economics, two required classes for the major. While these are some of the less fun classes (known as weeder classes), I still enjoyed them and knew, coming out of that semester, that I was going down the right path for me.

I declared the major over the summer between freshman and sophomore year (but you don’t need to declare until the second semester of your sophomore year). 

First semester of sophomore year, I took Environmental Science with lab and Intro Statistics (another two required intro classes, but not weeder classes) and really liked them. They definitely made me flex some underused muscles, especially since Environmental Science had a lab. My professors were really amazing and I really enjoyed seeing the connections between my coursework. 

This semester, I’m finally past the intros and onto electives, taking Global Environmental Politics and Ecosystem Ecology, both of which I’m really loving. I followed my Environmental Science prof, Professor Hewitt, to Ecosystem Ecology because she’s such a great professor. I’m also working as a TA (teacher’s assistant) for Intro to Environmental Studies.

More about the major:

Enviro is a relatively new department and major at Amherst. What I really like about it is how interdisciplinary it is. There are no distinct paths you can take, everyone has to take a collection of science, math, and social science courses, and even some humanities courses can count as electives.

Here are the requirements:

• Intro to Environmental Studies
• Intro to Environmental Science with lab
• Intro to Statistics
• Intro to Economics
• Environmental History (there are a few options)
• Environmental Policy (there are a few options)
• Environmental Justice (there are a few options)
• Ecology 
• Senior capstone seminar
• Elective 1
• Elective 2

While I’m sometimes annoyed by certain requirements that feel restrictive, I can say with confidence that I am very grateful for the skills I’ve gained taking such a wide array of courses that I probably wouldn’t otherwise take.

My favorite things about the major:

The interdisciplinary nature of the department means that you’ll find professors who are ecologists, political ecologists, environmental historians, biologists, etc – and students who have backgrounds in different subjects as well. Everyone I’ve encountered, students and professors alike, are open to hearing how different subjects within the field of environmental studies (and even beyond) inform each other. It’s truly a different way of approaching the interactions between science and the humanities, which is something that has made me love and appreciate science again.

Through my classes, we’ve collaborated closely with different departments on campus and organizations, like the Amherst’s Office of Sustainability, Book and Plow farm (the campus farm), and community organizers from Holyoke and Springfield. I really appreciate a sense of practicality in my classes and connecting what I’m doing in the classroom with real-life work. 

Importantly: everyone is so friendly! This is not a competitive major whatsoever. I love the community of people in the department and the collaborative spirit.

Why I’m not double majoring:

I enjoy trying new classes too much to double major. I’ve followed a schedule of two Enviro classes, one Portuguese class, and one random class each semester, which has been a good balance for me. I know that I’ll be able to study abroad without too much difficulty, and I don’t feel like I’m losing out on anything by single majoring. Most of my friends are double majoring, and while I think that’s also a great option, I’m confident that my decision to single major is the right one for me.

25 February 2023

It’s a frigid snowy (but mostly icy) day on campus, and I thought I’d share with you some popular spots to study on campus. I’m writing this from Converse Hall (waiting for a LitFest event to start), which is home to mostly administrative offices and the Economics department. Converse used to be the college’s library, and has a beautiful large lobby with couches and some tables where you sit to read or study. 

I usually prefer quieter work spots, though, and for a truly noiseless experience, I turn to B and C levels in Frost Library. Our library has six floors, with two quiet floors (the third floor and A level) and two silent floors (B level and C level/the Catacombs). For social studying or group work, the first and second floors are best. Frost isn’t the most beautiful college library I’ve seen, but it’s comfortable and you can always find a table. It’s also great for checking out books, since we have access to the libraries of all the five colleges (UMass, Smith, Mount Holyoke, and Hampshire), which means you can request almost any book you want and get it delivered to Frost fairly quickly. My favorite yet never-used Frost feature is the desk/bike on the first floor. I’m not sure if a single person has ever taken advantage of it.

Val (Valentine Dining Hall) is a really common spot to get work done. I’ll often show up for a meal and not leave until the next one because I’ve found a friend and settled in with my work. My favorite Val spots are all upstairs, especially the select few tables near a window and an outlet. The advantage of Val is that you always have “free” study drinks and snacks at your fingertips, even between mealtimes.

I’ve ended up with half of my classes in the Science Center this semester, which means I find myself studying there a lot. It’s not my favorite spot since it’s hard to find quiet spaces, but it’s great for social studying, it has really great lighting, and really comfortable seating – mostly located in the “living room,” the three-story tall foyer. If you get lucky, you can sometimes find an empty classroom.

I don’t make it over there as much as I’d like, but I love the Beneski Museum of Natural History, our geology building/natural history museum (with a real mammoth skeleton). There’s comfortable seating both in the museum and in random corners of the rest of the building, and you can always find an open outlet. From the upper floors, you can get mountain views and good light.

My bed is a definite favorite of mine, as much as I wish it weren’t. I haven’t yet kicked my habit of working in bed that was born during Covid-era online school, but I’m working on it. I like to be comfortable! If not my bed, I’m in my pajamas in the corner of my dorm’s library. 

And when I can drag myself out of bed and off campus, I love studying in town! Some favorite spots are Amherst Coffee (I can put you in touch with a good friend of mine who’s a near-daily patron), Share Coffee, and The Black Sheep Deli. If it’s Sunday, get there early or it will be near impossible to find a seat.

I try to switch it up as much as I can, but honestly, I usually end up studying wherever I find myself. It took me a while to figure out what spots work best for me, and my biggest realization in college is that I really hate social studying and need near-silence to focus. Everyone’s different, though! College workflow is different from high school and it takes some time to get used to. As always, feel free to reach out with any questions! My email: swolff25@amherst.edu

19 February 2023

Happy Sunday! As I start to settle into (kind of) a routine going into the fourth week of classes, I thought I’d share what a week in my life looks like, Monday-Friday. Every week is definitely different, but:

MONDAY

8:45 – Wake up

9:30-9:50 – Breakfast (almost always the same thing, oatmeal with peanut butter, cinnamon, maple syrup, and raisins)

10-10:50 – Ecosystem Ecology lecture

11-1 – Work in the Science Center, Frost Library, or Keefe Campus Center, reviewing ecology concepts that I didn’t get from lecture or doing other homework for the week

Between 1 and 2 – Eat lunch (either at Grab & Go in Keefe or at Valentine Dining Hall) and start heading over to UMass for Portuguese class. It’s a 10 minute bike ride or a 20-25 minute walk

2:30-3:45 – Portuguese

4-5:30 – Depends. Sometimes I take a nap, sometimes I do a quick workout, sometimes I get some homework done

5:30-7 – Salsa dance class in South Deerfield. This is a new but very fun development!

7-7:30 – Dinner

7:30-whenever I’m done for the night – Homework and winding down for the night 

1 – Bedtime

TUESDAY

10 – Wake up (super lucky that I get to sleep in twice a week)

10:40-11:20 – Late breakfast. I have a few friends who share my Tuesday/Thursday schedule and I always see them in the mornings before class

11:30-12:50 – Global Environmental Politics

1-2:20 – Creative Nonfiction

2:30-? – Lunch and Val sitting to either chat or do homework

Some point between 5 and 7:30 – Eat dinner

9-10 – Host my radio show! It’s called Gut Feeling and it would be totally awesome if you tuned in online! We have student programming every day on 89.3 from 4pm-2am and anyone can listen online! (https://wamhradio.mixlr.com/)

?-bedtime – Homework, misc. fun activities

WEDNESDAY

Same as Monday schedule, minus the salsa dancing.

THURSDAY

Same as Tuesday schedule, and up until a week ago, 5:30-7:30 was spent at the Jones Library, helping out with a D&D campaign for local middle schoolers.

FRIDAY

8:45 – Wake up

9:30-9:50 – (Delicious) oatmeal breakfast

10-10:50 – Ecosystem Ecology discussion. Usually this involves reading a scientific article and either someone presents on it or we all work together to create a graphical abstract. This is definitely my favorite part of the class.

11-12 – Eat lunch and work on my Global Environmental Politics reflection paper that’s due every Friday at midnight (it makes Fridays this semester kind of stressful, unfortunately)

12-2 – TA office hours. I work as a TA for the Intro to Environmental Studies class that’s required for the major, and students come in during this time to ask questions and get help on papers. This is also time to get some of my homework done if it’s a slow day

2-4ish – Val sitting to finish up my reflection paper

4-? – Go to the grocery store, go for a bike ride, take a nap, eat dinner, etc. Then it’s the weekend! Maybe I’ll do a separate post about my favorite weekend activities at Amherst.

I don’t have the most regimented schedule and different things come up each week to switch it up (which I love). Sometimes I’ll go see a movie at Amherst Cinema in the middle of the week, go to coffee shops to get work done, go to random club meetings other than my regular ones for radio, or go see lectures put on by different academic departments. We get a daily email called the Daily Mammoth that a lot of people don’t read, but I find it really helpful to know what’s going on around campus. 

Everyone's schedule at Amherst looks super different! Some people are part of a lot more clubs than I am, or are on a sports team, or have all their classes in one day and random days completely off. How you build your schedule is largely in your control, and personally, a big part of organizing my semester is trying to create balance – I don't really like having full days with no class, and would rather have my classes spread out through the week. 

9 February 2023

This past Wednesday marked the end of the add/drop period for this semester, which means all of our classes are officially locked in. At Amherst, the first week-and-a-half of classes are a shopping period, where you can visit as many classes as you want and make changes in your schedule (hence the add/drop). I did a bit of unexpected reshuffling during add/drop and here’s more details on what I’m taking:

Ecosystem Ecology: this class is an environmental studies elective (it unfortunately doesn’t count for the ecology core requirement). I took Environmental Science last semester with Professor Hewitt and I’m so excited to have another class with her. The lectures are a bit fast paced for me since I don’t have the strongest science base but I’m enjoying the content and don’t mind spending time after each class doing some googling.

Global Environmental Politics: This is a requirement for the enviro major, and I’m enjoying it a lot so far. So far, we’ve covered major institutions impacting international climate politics (like the WTO, IMF, World Bank), the enclosure of the commons and other stuff relating to the origin of capitalism and its impact on the environment, the Paris Agreements, and the farmers strikes in India. 

Creative Nonfiction: I’m taking this class purely for fun. I love writing and struggle to dedicate space and time to practicing it on my own. We do some reading of other creative nonfiction work as well, which I’ve really enjoyed. This is definitely one of my more laid back classes and I always look forward to doing the homework.

Advanced Composition (Portuguese): I’m taking this class at UMass. It started a week later than my Amherst College classes, so we’ve only had two meetings. All of us are heritage speakers, which means our families are Portuguese or Brazilian and we grew up speaking at home but never learned formal grammar. It’s a fun environment and I think I’m going to improve a lot this semester! My usual (free) parking spot close to campus has been changed into a tow zone :(... but I’ve really appreciated the 25 minute walk/10 minute bike ride this week. It takes me by the graveyard where Emily Dickinson is buried, which was a cool visit on the walk back home after class yesterday.

I feel like I struck a good balance this semester! I have some STEM, some social science, a creative class, and a language – I appreciate and love all these fields so much but am very glad I’m not doing four classes in any of them. I love seeing connections between wildly different classes and how skills from some help me in others. The liberal arts are cool, everyone! I’ve especially been feeling a lot of appreciation for my major this week – the classes, the professors, and the community in particular. 

Please feel free to reach out with any academic questions, or any questions at all! I’m planning to do a dedicated post about the environmental studies major soon. 

My email, just in case: swolff25@amherst.edu

5 February 2023

I just finished a really great two-day Wilderness First Aid and CPR certification through Amherst’s outing club! Very excited about it, glad I did it, and glad that I got to do it for free!

Outing Clubs are fairly common at most colleges. Amherst’s Outing Club organizes day and overnight trips that students can participate in or lead. Past trips have included cool stuff like camping, hiking, skiing, snow shoeing, ice climbing, whitewater rafting, kayaking, rock climbing, and falconry. It’s super low commitment in the sense that you don’t really have to do anything except sign up for the trips you want to go on. Sign-ups can be competitive, usually because there aren’t a ton of seats in people’s cars (so if you have a car on campus, you’re pretty much set). A lot of the trips are run through outdoor activity companies like Adventure East and are led by professional guides. 

The Outing Club also has a really well-stocked gear locker (anything from backpacks to ropes to crash pads to mountain bikes to epipens and other medical equipment). It’s open Thursday nights, and anyone can borrow gear for their own trips, whether or not they’re affiliated with the Outing Club.

Another amazing thing Outing Club does is organize CPR and Wilderness First Aid classes at no cost to students, which is what I did this weekend. These kinds of certifications are really great to have under your belt (and on your resume), especially if you work with kids or work/play in any sort of wilderness setting, but they can be pricey and hard to coordinate yourself. The CPR course was just 3 hours on Saturday night, but Wilderness First Aid was all day Saturday and Sunday. 

Most people in the class were either avid hikers/climbers/paddlers/skiiers and wanted to be safer while doing riskier backcountry activities, and a lot of us were there because we needed the certification for our summer jobs (as river guides, backpacking leaders, camp counselors, and park rangers). Through classroom instruction and scenarios practicing on each other, we learned how to respond to different wilderness emergencies. This included how to stop bleeding, how to monitor vitals and complete full-body exams for life threatening injuries, how to splint broken limbs with sticks and other found objects, and how to treat hypothermia and heat stroke – also how to treat a snake bite (a shocking number of adults in their right minds will go to grab a snake, apparently). It was so much more fun than I expected, especially getting to play the patient and get splinted and wrapped in a human burrito (technical term; to treat hypothermia).

My horrible secret is that I’ve never actually gone on an Outing Club trip, but maybe I’ll turn that around this semester. I have a car on campus and it’s definitely one of my main goals this semester to get out more beyond just the Rail Trail. The Pioneer Valley is surrounded by amazing hikes, and I can’t wait to take more advantage!

January 26, 2023

Happy New Year! I haven’t written in a bit because of our long winter break, but as I get ready to go back to school, I thought I’d share a few organizational things I do to get ready for the start of a new semester. 

1. Put all my classes into Google Calendar. I include class title, meeting location, and meeting times. For the first week, I add a notification 30 minutes before each class as I get used to the new routine. Some people like to color code per class, but I use the same color for all my classes so I can chunk other common events like work and extracurriculars. By the way, here are the classes I'm taking this semester: Ecology and Global Environmental Politics (both for my major), Creative Nonfiction, and Advanced Composition in Portuguese (at UMass). I typically take two classes for my major every semester and leave the other two to take whatever I want! I'm really excited for this schedule.
2. Put professors’ office hours into Google Calendar. I put them on a second calendar that I can disappear most of the time, but it’s really nice to click a button and be able to see all of them next to my schedule so I can figure out when I can make it to office hours.
3. Make an assignment calendar. I just make a 7x1 table in Google Docs for each week to keep track of due dates. I really recommend reading all your syllabi when you get them and putting all your big due dates in one place so you can see everything together and get an idea of what your workload is going to be over the semester. Some people use a paper planner, some people use a website called Notion, some people use sticky notes, some use the notes app on their phone – it’s definitely more about what will help you most than about having the fanciest system.

What everyone needs in terms of organization is super different – some of my friends don’t write anything down and do just fine, but I like to write everything down in one place so I don’t have to rely on my memory. This stuff is boring but thinking about it for an hour or two right when classes start is so worth it to me to remove one potential stressor.

It can be daunting first coming into college and not feeling like you have your footing yet. It took me some time (until second semester of my freshman year) to really get into a rhythm and figure out what I needed to feel organized and able to focus on the content of classes rather than deadlines and logistics. I encourage you to do whatever is best for you and not get too distracted or stressed out by the people with 500 highlighter colors and expensive planners – unless that’s you :)