New Students Get Immersed in the College Experience

 Xu and more than 60 of her fellow first-years got a taste of life at Vassar during the College’s four-week, online Summer Immersions in the Liberal Arts program hosted by the College’s Engaged Pluralism Initiative (EPI). The students, drawn from members of the incoming class who are from low-income and first-generation-college families, were enrolled in specially designed “mini-courses” and lab sessions that demonstrated the interactive, Vassar way of learning, attended virtual sessions hosted by campus support groups and student organizations, and engaged in one-on-one conversations with students, faculty and administrators.

Xu said the experience had erased much of the anxiety and uncertainty she had about launching her college career. “My parents didn’t go to college,” she said, “so I was a little intimidated about coming to a place where everyone is so intelligent and articulate,” she said. “But Summer Immersions put us all in a casual setting where we had a chance to meet our professors. I now have a good idea about what my classes will be like, what services and opportunities are available, and how I can take advantage of them.”

Dimple Kangriwala, an incoming first-year from Lyndhurst, NJ, agreed. “After a year and a half of learning online, I was scared to be returning to learning in person, and I thought I’d be learning about how strict the classroom setting was going to be,” Kangriwala said. “From the first day of the program, I was proven wrong. At Vassar, learning takes place in an open, friendly environment.”

Jonathon Kahn, EPI Director and Professor of Religion, said it was clear to him as he monitored the activities of Summer Immersion that those who participated were eager to become a part of the Vassar community. “As a staff, we tried to emphasize that we are excited that they are ready to learn with us and to contribute to the culture of the College,” Kahn said. “We are all looking to these new students to bring their enthusiasm, fresh ideas, and new perspectives.”

During the final week of the program, Kahn hosted a talk by Alyssa Maldonado-Estrada ’13, a first-generation student who is currently an Assistant Professor of Religion at Kalamazoo (MI) College. Maldonado-Estrada told the participants about some of the challenges she faced when she first arrived at Vassar and offered advice on how to make the most of their Vassar experience. She urged the Summer Immersions students to take courses outside their current academic interests, noting that she had intended to major in chemistry but soon switched her focus to religion and sociology. “Be open to how your world will evolve,” she said, adding that this attitude is just as important in choosing activities other than academics at Vassar.

Maldonado-Estrada also offered some advice for how to tackle whatever academic track is pursued. “Don’t hang back and not participate in the discussions, which are the life blood of every class,” she said. “The loudest and the most eager to speak are NOT smarter than you. You’re here because you’re just as smart.”

The entire trajectory of her life changed, Maldonado-Estrada said, thanks to one of her mentors, Professor of Sociology Diane Harriford. She said she had been planning to go to law school but confided to Harriford that she would love to become a professor of religion. “Diane said, ‘Then why don’t you do that?’ and that was the push I needed to apply to graduate school,” she said.

Kahn was also one of her most important mentors “because he carved out the time to show me I belonged in academia,” Maldonado-Estrada told the Immersions participants. “Put yourself out there and your professors will show you how much they care.”

Timothy Koechlin, Director of Vassar’s International Studies Program, and a Senior Lecturer in International Studies and Urban Studies, taught a mini-course titled “Global Inequalities” that explored political and social inequity in the United States and other parts of the world. Koechlin said the success of the course relied on a lively dialogue with his students, and he wasn’t disappointed. “I wanted to give them an experience that maybe they didn’t have in high school to engage in conversations, and they were clearly engaged,” he said, adding that he had learned at least as much as those he was teaching. “I have been thinking, reading, teaching and writing about inequality for 30 years—I’m an ‘expert,’” Koechlin said in a letter to his students at the conclusion of the class. “And yet, an incredible group of Summer Immersion students enriched my understanding of inequality in the United States and around the globe considerably.”

Dialogue and storytelling were also key components of Assistant Professor of Africana Studies Jasmine K. Syedullah’s course, titled “It’s More Than Just the Police.” Syedullah said she and her students explored the Black Lives Matter movement within the context of the history of the civil rights movement, and she offered them an introduction into prison studies. “I lectured for about 15 minutes, and then I used prompts to start the conversation about the civil rights movement,” she said.

Syedullah said the class she had taught in last year’s Summer Immersions program had prompted some of those students to seek her out when they arrived on campus in the fall and that one of then, Kiran Rudra ’24, had become her research assistant. Rudra said he drew on his own Summer Immersion experience to help this year’s participants. “I am from a low-income family and I’m a transgender person of color,” Rudra said, “so coming to a school like Vassar was scary for me. I’m helping this year’s students make some useful connections.

“I’m glad this program exists,” he said. “It gives a lot of students the opportunity to connect with professors and upperclassmen to help them start their year with some familiar faces.”

Jordan van der Meulen coped with a six-hour difference in time zones between Vassar and his home in South Africa to take part in the program. He said the effort was well worth it. “The Immersions program has shown me just how supportive Vassar is to incoming students,” van der Meulen said, “and the faculty have shown me just how many facilities are at my disposal, which will enhance my learning experience as well as my overall college experience.”