The Smith School Women’s Society (SSWS) had its first meeting Feb. 8, and club
leadership discussed their goals for the semester, offering members an opportunity to get
to know one another.
After handing out coupons for free Chipotle burritos to the winners of a SSWS
contest, club President Emily Pearson, along with Vice President of Events Rasshmi
Shankar and Webmistress Rachel Zhang, told the 15 women in attendance that they want
the SSWS to be a social club as well as a professional one.
“We want our members to get to know each other and become friends,” Shankar
said.
President Pearson said that to this end, the SSWS would try to host more social
events in addition to their traditional professional events. As examples, Pearson said they
might host a mixer where both Smith School Alumni and current SSWS members could
mingle and make connections, and proposed having movie nights.
It doesn’t appear that spurring on friendship within the club will be a difficult task,
as the meeting then turned into its own social gathering of sorts when club leaders
introduced some games for members to play. The games were designed to get members
acquainted.
During the first game, the room filled with laughter and conversation to the point
that an onlooker would likely think it was a get-together of friends rather than a formal
meeting. Later, members played another game where they shared odd and interesting facts
about themselves, which was also a success. Almost all members raised their hands when
asked if they would prefer more social events to professional ones.
There was some talk of professional events, however, when the leaders were asked
if the SSWS could host events aimed at helping members get internships. Shankar said that
while they would try, such events are more common in the fall, because that is when
employers are interested in coming.
The meeting ended with the announcement that SSWS will be holding its first event
on March 1 with the Office of Career Services. SSWS and OCS will hold mock interviews that
will give SSWS members a chance to practice their interviewing skills.