I still remember the moment I received
my acceptance letter it was in the
middle of the night in Karachi and I had
not slept a wink in anticipation of the
decision
I am honored to be standing in front of
you and telling you about my Smith
Journey
my name is zainab agdas riswi and I'm a
proud member of the class of 2018.
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in the audience are my parents Mama and
Baba and my two younger brothers
Mohammad and Ali
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and they're visiting Smith for the first
time from Karachi Pakistan
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I'm the first person in my family to go
to college abroad and I would not be
standing here today without their
unwavering support throughout these four
years
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I had never visited the United States
before applying to colleges so
reputation and Word of Mouth played a
major role in deciding where to apply
at my high school career fair I spoke
with sharmino bechinoy class of 2002
also here today and she encouraged me to
consider Smith when I expressed an
interest in storytelling and journalism
she told me about Smith's curriculum
that encourages taking classes in a
variety of different disciplines
soon after I decided to apply early
decision
little did I know that I would fully
explore so many diverse options in the
curriculum and go from English to double
majoring in computer science and
statistical and data Sciences
foreign
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I still remember the moment I received
my acceptance letter it was in the
middle of the night in Karachi and I had
not slept a wink in anticipation of the
decision
I logged into the admissions portal and
then ran upstairs to my parents to wake
them up and to tell them the good news
the excitement however came with anxiety
I knew I wouldn't be able to attend
Smith without a generous scholarship
I distinctly remember getting on a phone
call with the head of Student Financial
Services David Belanger at 3am in
Karachi to discuss the specifics of my
family's financial situation
a few weeks later I received the second
piece of good news an adjusted financial
aid package that would make it possible
for me and my family to be able to
afford a Smith education
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when I arrived here for my first
semester I had already picked out four
writing intensive forces to be on track
for the English major my liberal arts
advisor said to me Zana I think you
should try at least one stem course to
diversify your course through the little
too frightened by the heart sciences and
the long labs I decided to take the
introduction to computer science course
I found it running an even oddly
empowering to write computer programs
that would make little fish bounce on my
screen
through the support of tutors faculty
and peers I was able to overcome my fear
of the sciences and do well in my first
stem class at Smith
as part of my work study position I was
a peer advisor at the Lazarus Center for
career development
students around me were getting accepted
to internships ranging from startups to
world-class research Labs while I still
couldn't decide on a major
but soon these students began to inspire
me
I began to wonder if I could apply for
one of these amazing and terrifying
opportunities
I applied for an internship at a
financial firm in New York City and when
I was accepted for the technology summer
analyst position I got the confidence to
challenge myself and commit to computer
science as my major
during my sophomore year I was inspired
to help the community do more to address
the wide gender gap that currently
exists in technology
and so with the support of my advisor
Professor Nick Howe I started the
Northampton chapter of girls who code a
national movement to introduce
schoolgirls to computer science
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I also became a computer science
teaching assistant here on campus which
gave me the opportunity to interact with
other smithies who were also considering
the major
last summer I was ecstatic when I was
selected to intern with Google in
Mountain View California
however my excitement was clouded by
nervousness about ongoing immigration
issues and work visa restrictions for
foreign Nationals
I'm grateful for Sydney Davis at Google
class of 2008.
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who are laid my fears by working through
my options for staying in the US after
graduation this is just one of the many
examples set by the Smith Community
including current students faculty staff
and alumni where they go out of their
way to help each other when unexpected
situations arise
I remember walking into the office of
Professor Jordan krauser class of 2008.
one day my junior year of saying that I
have suddenly realized that I wanted to
go to graduate school for computer
science I knew I was behind schedule as
I didn't have any research experience
but they encouraged me to maximize the
time I had remaining at Smith he
supervised my special studies where we
analyzed buyers in the diagnostic and
statistical Manual of mental disorders
and it gave me the individual attention
I would not have received at any other
Institution
I went on to do an honors thesis with
Professor Joseph O'Rourke in
computational Geometry my senior year
which has been one of my most fulfilling
academic experiences at Smith
the access to undergraduate research
allowed me to work in two very different
but interdisciplinary fields
this summer I will be working as a
research assistant at u-ben before
joining full-time as a software engineer
at Google
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my desire to go to graduate school for a
PhD in computer science is stronger than
ever and I've seen much more prepared
for it
all of my amazing experiences have been
a collaborative effort through the
larger Smith community
the friendships I have formed here are
perhaps my biggest takeaway from my four
years here
for three out of those four years I've
had the privilege of knowing Gina Fusco
at the Lazarus Center who I
affectionately call my Smith mom
when I was severely ill surrounded by
nurses and quarantined at Cooley
Dickinson Hospital Gina cradled me in
her arms and told me I'd be okay
I met my best friend surul Gandhi during
the 2016 election watching party
from Reading Urdu poetry together to
cramming the night before our art
history finding to dissecting New York
Times articles endlessly or just arguing
about who makes chai that is just the
right color
you have been an extraordinary friend
and I hope we can be best friends
forever
the support I have received from Smith
has never seized from emergency root
canals thank you Dean Caitlin to
teaching me how to thrive in an
increasingly uncertain political climate
to making graduate school in computer
science a possibility for someone who
was too afraid to take her first stem
course the opportunities I've had here
are more than I could have imagined four
years ago
I am even more excited to be part of a
network of remarkable smithies long
after I graduate thank you and
congratulations to the class of 2018.
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