Samantha Smylie ’17

Hello, my name is Samantha Smylie. I am a third year History major, (potential) politics minor POSSE Scholar from Chicago, Illinois. I concentrate in Middle Eastern and North African History, but I also find myself talking a lot about race, gender, class, and higher education in the United States. I hope to be a journalist with a public radio show like Serial, This American Life, Snap Judgment, and so many others.

When I’m not reading almost 100 pages a night for my classes, I’m doing a few things on campus and for myself (because who is more important than me?). I am a part of the Oberlin College Dialogue Center (OCDC). I love the cool people that I work with. I love that I am applying my skills of conflict resolution to real life situations. It’s amazing. I use Facebook to keep myself updated on current social justice issues — I am always reposting articles online or writing a lengthy post about different social justice issues. I guess you could call me a Facebook activist. And recently, I started a podcast with my friend Hyacinth called “A Spoonful of Honey.”

Being a student at Oberlin has opened up many possibilities for me. Being in the presence of notable scholars, being in an institution with rich history, and being around other students with a passion for social justice has really changed me as person. Since coming to Oberlin, I have been thinking more critically about the world around me and I have found myself questioning everything — even the institution that I am at now. My mission for this blog is to invite you to Oberlin with open arms, give you a couple of laughs, tell you a couple of personal stories, and give you a holistic view of Oberlin (the good and the bad). I hope you enjoy my writing. Have a wonderful day.