Admission
Admission Interns
Sacha Baniel-Stark '11
I was born and raised in Northern California, with parents on two of the three sides of the San Francisco Bay (having parents on all three sides would have been a feat of nature). The spawn of a highly-analytical math professor and a natural healer, I spent a lot of my life confused about what the future had in store. Choosing a college wasn't easy (I actually considered not going right to college and becoming an apprentice with a dance company instead - don't tell my parents), and I didn't 'officially' decide to come to Reed until I was confined to a hospital bed for a week (don't tell my college counselor).
In some sense, though, I always knew I'd end up at Reed. From the first time I accidentally picked up the viewbook, something just felt right; now that I'm here, I couldn't be happier. I finally became a philosophy major (I was avoiding it because my dad was a philosophy major - don't tell him that, either), mostly because it was something I could major in without really having to limit the types of things I could spend time thinking about - language, science, ethics, etc. - but my main focus is in Philosophy of Language, which feeds wonderfully into my side-obsession, linguistics. I'm also involved with the dance community at Reed, I volunteer with a local middle school, and I run our lit mag (the vestiges of my time on high school journalism).
Besides studying and dancing, I love to cook in my awesome off-campus kitchen, drink coffee, giggle at puppies I pass on the street and at Reed, do photography, come up with cool titles for books I'll never write, train for the FBI fitness test, and answer emails from people like you!
If you have any questions about the performing arts at Reed, questions about working for publications at Reed despite our lack of an official journalism program, philosophical inquiries, what it's like to vacillate between pretty much every major ever (or if you're just worried about how you'll ever possibly decide what to study), news of good shows in the Portland area, want cookie recipes, or just want to make contact with a real live Reed student, drop me a line! I check my email approximately 3.7x10^894 times an hour, so I'm pretty easy to get in contact with.
Austin Campbell '11
Live, laugh, learn, and love, the great categorical ideas that guide my life--actually, these tenets are more like pairs of each other and not sequential. How this all relates to who I am as a person; I live to laugh and learn to love. Basically, I am a person that performs every task with passion. If you ask me where I am from, I will excitedly tell you: Inglewood, California. What's my favorite food: French fries of course! What's my favorite car: 1989 Honda Civic... it was my first. Who are you--well some call me Austin, but you have to read more to "know me."
When people ask me how I heard about Reed, all of the memories about the college process come rushing back from the recesses of my mind and flood me with feelings of happiness, anxiety, frustration, excitement, acceptance. After this initial reaction, I promptly tell them that I didn't know about Reed until I happened to be working in the college counseling office sorting promotional material and Reed's handbook slid out from the pile. It was like a sign from Zeus himself. I knew I was meant to be Reedie.
Looking back on that time to now, I realize how fortunate I am to go to Reed. Reed has created unbelievable opportunities to be a part of a community and to know that my voice is truly heard. At Reed, I am involved with the Student Body Senate as Head Treasurer. I work with a team of 2 other students who help me manage the student body account, which is completely autonomous from administrative input. I go to one of the only schools in America where administrators don't have direct oversight over student body funds. How awesome is that! I am also a House Advisor, where I am seen as a team and staff member. I live amongst students and help create a wonderful community built around honor and respect for each other, which reflects Reed as a larger entity. Seriously, there is no place like Reed; there is no place like Reed; there is no place like Reed. I wouldn't change it for the world. If you want to ask me any more questions like then feel free to contact me. Hopefully, when you are a Reedie, I can bake you some chocolate chip cookies.
Molly Case '12
Isaac Eger '11
Jessica Gerhardt '11
Sometimes I feel that I was born in the wrong decade. My love-peace-and-daisy chains philosophy on life might place me more comfortably in the 60s, while my big fluffy hair and love of new-wave synth pop might place me in the 80s. I've come to realize that the amalgamation of eclectic interests that assembles my personality actually finds a home here at Reed. I love to paint my face, wear neon and leggings, and dance my heart out at Bowie Ball, a dance party devoted to the musical majesty of David Bowie. On glorious warm sunny days I sit out on the front lawn and blow bubbles, play my ukulele, or swing on the swings.
Of course, Reed is not like this around the clock. Indeed, there is an unending productivity in every Reedie, and this applies to me as well. During the academic year I'm buzzing busily around from class to class, reading, writing research papers, and planning ahead, I love it! In the psychology department, the annual Squier Retreat provides an opportunity for faculty and students to spend a weekend together getting to know one another and geeking out. At Reed I can be intellectually stimulated and still feel totally comfortable cracking jokes about cognitive dissonance or Pavlov's dogs.
The majority of my time revolves around the life of the mind, and that is what makes my non-academic world that much more refreshing. Every day, I get to walk across the blue bridge and look out over the beautiful Reed Canyon. Here in Portland, I actually see the seasons change, from the vibrant crimson and golden leaves of Fall to the fresh pink of cherry blossoms in the Spring. I savor the warmth of the sun, which I always took for granted growing up in Santa Monica. My involvement as a mentor in the Peer Mentor Program and as a House Advisor for Residence Life has helped me nurture my social and organizational skills, and allows me to have close relationships and build community.
The trick to Reed, I have found, is BALANCE. I sleep when I'm tired, I eat when I'm hungry, I read, I work, I shower, I play music, I paint and draw, I go off campus, and I spend time with friends! If anything brought this into perspective it was my semester abroad in Florence, Italy. Having experienced life in a new culture with new faces and new ways of living was so rewarding, and it helped me to know right where I needed to be when I came back to Reed.
As I go on to write my psychology thesis this year, I will use all that I have learned, and most pertinently my skills in balancing, to help me succeed and stay sane. This has been my journey so far at Reed… what will yours be?
Nia Heffelfinger '12
As a lifelong Pacific Northwest native from the state of Washington, one could say that I've become well acquainted with the rain. I have walked out in rain – and back in rain. Green and gray are familiar hues in my environmental color scheme, but the wet is something that I will never get accustomed to. So why, do you ask, have I ended up at Reed College in Portland, OR, the city with an average of 37.5 inches of rain per year?
Because, to be completely honest, my life would suck without Reed College. Let me explain. At the end of my sophomore year, I shamelessly decided that the Kelly Clarkson song My Life Would Suck Without You perfectly describes my relationship with Reed. (Cause we belong together now / forever united here somehow / you got a piece of me and honestly / my life would suck without you) Had I chosen to attend any other academic institution for my secondary education, nothing would have been as perfect a fit as Reed is for me. Nowhere else have I been simultaneously challenged, frustrated, and inspired by my work as I have been here.
From the serendipitous moment I picked up the viewbook, something clicked. Ironically, the line "Reed is not for everyone" was incredibly reassuring. Reed didn't want every prospective college freshman in the United States, and that alone made a more distinct impression on me than any other college in which I was interested. Now that I'm here, I love the fact that my academic abilities are taken seriously, questioned, and challenged. After waffling between a major in History, Spanish, or English Lit, I finally decided this spring to pursue an interdisciplinary degree in History/Literature.
When I'm not busy studying, I enjoy tinkering with my bike, baking pie, dancing in the student-run Dance Troupe, getting excited over Spanish literature, tutoring freshmen in writing and biology, and answering emails from people like you! If you have any questions about Reed, about adjusting from living in a small island town in the Puget Sound to the slightly bigger pond that is Portland, or how you could ever possibly decide what to study, send me an email! My computer is practically attached to my fingers, so getting in touch with me is much easier than rocket science. I look forward to hearing from you!
Nora Jones '12
Ethan Knudson '11
Salim Moore '11
The time has come the griffin said, to talk of many things; Of Reed, and books, and Thesis Tower - Of the Doyle Owl and swings, And why this place has such charm, of which we all should sing.
Privet. Hola. Salut. I am an Art History major from Altadena, California. I left my moss garden and some giant pumpkin seedlings to attend Reed. I suppose that's okay though because moss grows on everything here, even the cars, seriously. I am a big fan of accordions and violins and opera. I like to read märchen, myths, and legends before bed. Once, a group of friends and I got together and created the science fiction and fantasy theme dorm, Tír na nÓg.
If you're passionate about all things Joss Whedon, George R. R Martin, or just science fiction and fantasy in general, you should come talk to me. If you're passionate about oral tradition, short films, creative writing, and/or food, you should consider talking to me. If you're passionate about art, architecture, activism and sustainability, you should most likely get in touch with me. If you're passionate about all of the above, stop reading and find me. I'll be waiting, ears wide open and fingers poised, for any and all of your questions. : D
Zuzu Ogden '12
JinYoung Park '11
Hi! My name is JinYoung. I am a junior linguistics major and I am passionate about linguistics, languages, music, and food! I am originally from JeonJu, South Korea, but I lived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia for six years (Aug '01 - Aug '07), during which time I learned English and made lots of friends from all over the world. I am especially excited to be back at Reed this semester, after having spent the last semester studying abroad in Paris. I missed our gorgeous campus-even though it does rain a lot-and the faculty and staff that actually know and care about me. I also think that Reed has fabulous language departments that are usually underrated. I have taken French and I am currently taking Russian. Feel free to talk to me about taking language classes at Reed.
Some of my favorite things at Reed are Gray Fund, singing in chorus and collegium musicum, sunny days, playing volleyball without feeling intimidated even though I'm not very good at it, and being allowed to be a nerd. I also love Portland for its public transportation system, no sales tax, and numerous food carts. If you want to know more about any of these things, or anything else really, or if you are a prospective international student and/or a TCK, talk to me. I would love to meet all of you!
Mamie Stevenson '12
I was one of those overachievers who applied to fourteen schools my senior year of high school. And of course, I applied for college in the hardest year to get accepted in all of history—2008: The Apocalypse. After applying early decision elsewhere and being denied admission, I told my parents that I was never going to set foot in an ivory tower… I would spend the rest of my life in Africa or in a lab curing cancer. But my parents encouraged me to keep my head up, to look into other options, and most of all to think about how hard it would be without a learning environment after twelve years of asking for extra homework assignments.
In January of 2008, I received an email from Reed Admission Counselor, Melinda Brown, telling me that she would be in Boulder conducting interviews. I set up a time to meet her and changed my outfit five times before leaving the house. When I sat down with Melinda, I was immediately comforted by her smile and her laid back approach to the interview. It felt more like a conversation than anything else, and I realized that we had a lot of similar interests. We both were from Colorado, we both loved to study English literature, and we both had a particular interest in female authors. But what really struck me was that Melinda wrote her thesis on a woman named Katherine Mansfield, whom I had read only weeks before. I was elated after the interview. Reed was quickly promoted to my number one choice.
Since coming here, I have taken a breadth of courses from Hum 110 to Intro Bio to a number of Russian classes. I have felt truly embraced by both the English Literature and Russian Language/Literature departments, which is why I have decided to focus my studies in both departments. I have been involved in Reed's Queer Alliance, Feminist Student Union and I have written for Reed's newspaper, The Quest. I have made some close friends and experienced the amazing city of Portland.
Reed has been a good place for me. Coming from an all-girls Catholic high school in suburban Denver, I knew that I wanted college to be an open-minded, liberal atmosphere where my individuality would be embraced. Though I worried about the course load and the intense reading assignments for class, I have never felt more confident about learning. I have been challenged by every single class. I have felt encouraged by every professor and I have learned a lot about myself by being on my own.
Also, don't be scared… Hum 110 is like the best class ever.
I don't really like bios… or at least the standard bio that most people write-up when trying to describe themselves. I believe in anecdotal explanation, which is why if you catch me giving a tour (or just talk to me for more than two minutes, for that matter) I will relate story after story to try and provide you with some sort of tangible essence that explains me… or Reed… or whatever it is that I'm trying to explicate. I can tell you about the time I hitchhiked from Amsterdam, Netherlands to Bern, Switzerland; I once met Joanna Newsom on Charles Bridge and nearly fainted; the only time I've been on first class I passed out in front of the flight attendant while walking to the bathroom; I almost got into a law dispute with Danish film maker Lars von Trier; Reed was the only school my parents forbade me to apply to (because it was so far away from home); the stories are endless.
In any case, I can't relay to you every one of these occurrences (although, please ask me!), so I will, instead, simply say that I come from the western end of Massachusetts. I call where I grew up an 'area' as opposed to a 'town' or 'city' since my town consists of 500 residents, I drove over 50 miles each way to school every day, and my frequent hang out spot was about 30 miles away from my home. The school I attended was a performing arts high school with a concentration in theatre and music, and I came to Reed expecting to be a Literature-Theatre major. In the end, I found a passion for political philosophy and switched over to the Political Science department. I like '70s mystery television shows (Columbo in particular), bad Chinese food, summer, and shoestring traveling.
Does this give you a better sense about who I am? I'm not so sure about that, but I hope you can get the sense that I would love to talk with you, whether about my life, Reed, theatre, politics, or anything else your or my heart desires. Maybe if we sit down and talk you'll see how great and helpful a good story is, and how confining simple definition-based bios can be.