Reed College

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Comparative Literature
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: White Pansexual Non-Binary

Summary

I managed two on-campus coffee shops, I participated in Calligraphy, a couple of book groups, and I also led a music booking group for gender minorities in the music scene.

Background

Gender Identity: Non-Binary
Race/Ethnicity: White
Sexual Orientation: Pansexual

High School Experience: Public high school in Mill Valley, California with a graduating class of about 400 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Comparative Literature
Minor: None

Extracurricular Activities: I managed two on-campus coffee shops, I participated in Calligraphy, a couple of book groups, and I also led a music booking group for gender minorities in the music scene.
Have any of your extracurricular activities had a particularly big impact on your experience?
All of them. A streamline for most of them was meeting people. Reed is fairly small and I’m pretty social, so I don’t have a hard time meeting people, but I still feel that each of those extracurricular activities and jobs helped me identify a group of people with similar interest. They also taught me a lot. I had no experience with music booking before doing Angel Booking. I had a little bit of coffee experience before I got hired by the coffee shop, but I didn’t have any experience as a manager.

Academic Experience

Can you describe your weekly coursework for your Comparative Literature major?
It’s lots of reading. Depending on the class, some would have weekly writings instead of midterms and final papers. Otherwise, it was pretty standard to have two or three papers throughout the semester. One smaller one in the beginning, a bigger one before Fall or Spring break, and the largest one during finals. The only time I had exams my freshman year was when I took Chemistry because Reed requires all students to take a year of science.
Is there anything that you feel the Comparative Literature department does especially well or poorly?
Comparative Literature at Reed is non-traditional in the sense that most people think of it as comparing literatures of different languages, so they think you have to be fluent in two or more languages. Reed’s Comparative Literature department has that track, but we also have the Allied Field track, and my feeling of the Allied Field track is it’s a way to do an interdisciplinary major without petitioning. It’s hard to do a double major here because you have to write two theses. Reed doesn’t currently offer a gender studies major. They’re working on a Critical Race Studies and a Continental Philosophy major. Philosophy at Reed is only analytical, so I use the Comparative Literature department as a way to study and write my thesis on things Reed doesn’t offer in other departments.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
I think it depends on the classroom, what department you’re in, what professor you have, and what students are in your class. From my experience, I found that most of the classroom environments were collaborative. My fondest memories were with professors who would sit at the table, never stand up in front of the class, and lecture with students who were genuinely interested in the topic. I’ve also heard professors say that Reed students in particular can be mean to each other in the classroom, but in an intellectual way. They enjoy savagely taking each other down by poking holes in each other’s arguments. I’ve seen that and have done that myself, but for the most part people are pretty respectful and are actually interested in whatever we’re talking about.
How accessible have the professors in your department been?
The overall majority of professors I’ve had were very available. They had office hours multiple times a week. They emphasize that if you can’t make their office hours, they’ll make themselves available otherwise.
Do you feel that people are open to multiple schools of thought in the classroom?
I don’t know, maybe not. Taking into account that Reed is very concerned with political correctness, I think students can be a little ruthless when they know someone has a different political background or allegiance. That carries into the classroom, and it’s assumed that we’re all meant think one way. This also depends on the professor. I took a bunch of classes with this one history professor where anything is fair game in his class, and I think that draws more diversity in terms of schools of thought. It’s kind of about the culture the professor fosters, and the examples the students set and then follow.
What was your favorite class in your major?
For Comparative Literature, there are only two classes that are technically in the major. That is Introduction to Comparative Literature and Introduction to Literary Theory. All the other classes that I’ve used for my major are in other departments. One of my Political Science classes is built around a close reading of Being and Time, by Martin Heidegger. That class was really good, in part because the professor really cares and is one of those legendary professors who’s been at Reed for 40+ years.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I’m definitely happy with my choice. I sort of bounced around a lot in the begging, in part because that’s what they say you can do at Reed. I came in as a History major, became an English major, and then a Religion major for a second. Then, I found out about this weird major called History Literature, which is basically a different way of doing Comparative Literature, but you end up having two thesis advisors, and you have to petition. I decided to do Comparative Literature because it is more of a formed department with more resources, and also because I discovered theory, and I love it.

Reasons to Attend

1) I think the intellectual and academic climate is stellar.
2) A big thing for me was that I wanted to nerd out and think school was great and cool, and that’s a positive aspect of Reed. You’re not going to be made fun of for how much you care about academics.
3) Overall, the thesis process is so useful. If you like your major, pick a good topic, and are working with a good advisor, you’ll grow so much in the process. My research, writing, and self-editing skills are so much better. Now I can write something and have a better sense of if it’s good, and what needs tweaking.
4) The culture. I spent pretty much every summer not at Reed or Portland. Last year I was in Los Angeles for a publishing workshop, and I remember so many days where I would miss Reed so much because those are my people.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) Money is something a lot of people would say. I’m going to be in debt for a while, and I knew that going in. [Tuition is about $58,000.]
2) The culture falls on both sides, depending on who you are. If you’re somebody who wants a more traditional college experience, then Reed would suck.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Old Dorm Block in a single.
Sophomore: Off-campus house with four other people.
Junior: Off-campus house with four other people.
Senior: A duplex in Portland with two other people.
What is the impact of so many students living off-campus at Reed? How do you like this?
I think it’s healthy. Reed is a school that puts a lot of emphasis on tradition, doing things together, being weird, and having Reed specific events. It’s good because people can get some time away and to themselves or with their friends. I’ve never felt alienated just because I live off-campus.
How was transitioning from the Bay Area to Portland, OR?
It was really easy. I moved up the summer before I started at Reed with a friend who had already been going here for a year. I moved up in May and started school in August. It’s a 10-hour drive. Culturally, the Bay and Portland are so similar. The funny thing at Reed is when people meet each other it’s like half the people are from California, and half are from New York. There’s a scattering of Midwesterners in-between. [24% of students in the 2018 entering class are from California.]
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I personally always feel very safe. I’m really lucky in part because I’m White, and because I seem like a good kid. I got an AOD at Reed, which is the alcohol and other drug policy. It’s a slap on the wrist and it doesn’t really mean anything. The campus security say they’re not cops, and they’re pretty widely hated because they act like cops. They have a high turnover rate, so people are unhappy with them. I’ve heard horror stories from friends about community safety officers coming into their rooms without asking, and basically harassing people.

Social Opportunities

What kind of nightlife or weekend activities do you like to participate in?
I would go out dancing with my friends a lot. I met a lot of people in the Portland club and rave scene that didn’t go to Reed, which was refreshing. I became friends with some DJs. Otherwise, just parties. I feel like there are a couple of Reed specific events that everyone turns out for, and that’s the Daft Punk specific ball. There’s a big party at the end of the year celebrating the seniors, and also an LCD sound system ball which I’d go to every now and then, but less and less. I went to everything my freshman year, but when I moved off campus I’d start having dinners and going to bars with my friends but still going to the big events.
What’s an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a night out?
Something that comes to mind is how much people at Reed love our improv group, those shows are always packed. I’ve loved going to things like that, or other concerts that aren’t just clubbing or dinner, whether it’s going out to get it or having friends over and making it. As I got older I got so much more okay with just taking a bath and reading on a Friday.
How happy are you with the weekend options at Reed? Is there anything you would change if you could?
Portland isn’t that urban. The bars close at 2:30 and the busses pretty much stop running. You’re lucky if there’s something both Friday and Saturday. Also, something I think that is more specific to Reed and not just Portland is that the party culture declined even in my four years. My freshman year there were parties every single weekend, or if not parties some art show or something on campus. My sophomore year there were a bunch of boycotts at Reed, and I think that really kind of reoriented how the student population felt about expending energy on non-pressing matters such as putting on art events or parties. I witnessed a lot of those things go away.
How has identifying as LGBTQ influenced your nightlife experience?
It’s really nice in Portland. There’s a non-Reed recurring event that’s called Judy on Duty that’s specifically lesbian focused, but also welcomed to the entire LGBTQ community. That’s something I’d see a lot of Reed students at. It’s not a Reed event, but you would see a lot of your classmates there. That was nice because it provided a sense of community that was both specific to Reed, but also to the broader Portland community. There were some scary hate crimes that happened this past semester in Portland, like Proud Boys stuff where they were going around beating up poor people. That was shocking but also not that shocking because I know that Oregon as a whole is a lot more conservative than people give it credit for. Portland is one of the Whitest cities in America. It’s where a lot of the plantation owners after the Civil War moved to, and they didn’t let Black people own property until the late 20th century. For the most part it was positive to be part of the Queer community. [About 70% of residents are White.]

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
It’s pretty cute. She’s from San Francisco, I’m from near there, and we met on Facebook through the Reed class of 2019 page when we found out we were admitted. We never met up, and the first day of orientation week we recognized each other and talked. The story I like to tell is that she had lipstick on her teeth and I told her, so that’s how she knew she’d be my friend. We lived together for two years. I pretty much met most of my friends from hanging out on the quad or having classes with them. I’m kind of a social floater, so I met people at Reed from so many sorts of things. I don’t think that’s true for everybody, some people meet their friend’s freshman year and then form a group that they’re a little afraid to change up.
How would you describe the social scene?
I think I got a lot more pessimistic about it as the years went on. Freshman year I thought it was amazing, and everyone was way nicer than I thought they’d be. When I toured, it’s not that people weren’t nice, but I was so intimidated by everybody that I thought they were way cooler than me. I thought when I got to Reed everyone was going to think I was uncool and not want to be my friend. It was totally not that way. Freshman year I had more friends than I did any of the other years. I think because the social scene is a little disingenuous at times, people form cliques, and as somebody who doesn’t want to do that, it felt alienating at times and my friend circle dwindled. That’s in part because [writing your] thesis is intense. It’s a yearlong process your senior year, and so I didn’t have time to keep up the more acquaintance level friendships and relied on two or three core people.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
Sexual orientations are mixing all the time, but Reed is a really White school. I think some students of color feel like they want to hang out with other students of color more than White students because the school doesn’t have that many resources for them. There is a Multicultural Recourse Center (MRC), and they put on cool events and organize cool talks. I’d say there’s a high level of mixing, but whether or not that means there is true diversity I don’t know. [57% of the Class of 2022 is White.]
How would you describe the student body?
One of the things that Reed [prides] itself on is the true level of uniqueness of each student. If Reed had a character, it’s kind of a paradox because how do you have a character if the point is that everyone is so individual, but I’d say overall commonalities between the student body is that everyone is very opinionated, and everyone is very smart even if they don’t claim that they are. I think everyone has imposter syndrome, myself included. People say that Reedies are weird, and I think it’s true, but people are also down to earth more so than Reed overall comes off as. I don’t think people are really that pretentious. They’re pretty nice honestly.
How do you like the size of Reed in terms of undergraduate enrollment? [There are about 1,400 students at Reed.]
I think it’s a good size. I really like small schools. I actually got rejected from Reed the first time I applied because I got really bad grades in high school. I was sad and didn’t go to school, and I wasn’t wealthy, so my mom couldn’t pay for me to do a bunch of tutoring. I went to Franklin University Switzerland before Reed. That school has 400 students in total. I never felt like that was too small, so I’m the kind of person the craves really small learning environments in part because my high school was so big I never really got the attention that I needed. I think Reed could be even smaller and it would be great. I feel like I knew a lot of people, but when I was sitting at the graduation ceremony hearing all the names being called in my class, there were a lot of people I didn’t know. This was surprising to me because I feel like I know everybody because it feels small a lot of the time. [The average class size is 16.]
How would you describe the LGBTQ community on campus? How strong is it?
I think it’s a very large community, but it’s very informally organized. There’s a Queer Student Union, but I don’t know anybody who’s part of it and I have a lot of friends who are Queer. It’s a prominent force on campus, but not through any organization. Some students are part of the Queer Student Union, and that’s great and I’m sure they’d give you a different answer. From my experience, the community exists, but it’s not like we’re all getting together based on that commonality.

Careers

Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
Not yet, but they’ve helped me with other things. My biggest experience with the alumni network was while I was a current student. I got a fellowship from Reed to come to New York and also to go to England to do archival research and to write short stories. I met the man who runs the New York alumni chapter at a reunion, and I met a bunch of other people at alumni events. They haven’t necessarily helped me get a job, but they’ve given me advice on how to do things.
What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
They’ve been helpful, mostly because I know that every year each student is allocated $500 through the Career Advancement Fund. I’ve gotten that a lot, so they’ve been extremely helpful to me because they gave me money, but also because I did a winter shadow which was a really cool program that they used to do where the people at The Center for Life Beyond Reed (CLBR) would reach out to the broader Reed network including alumni, parents, donors, and anybody who has a cool job. They’d see if they want a student to come and shadow them. I shadowed a Waldorf teacher, and that was cool because they paid for my flights. I’m interested in going into teaching, and that’s not something I’d be able to do on my own or on a break.
Have you learned any computer programs or computer languages that will be helpful professionally?
Kind of. Freshman year in Chemistry they tried to teach us R Markdown, and it was only for lab reports. Nobody really learned it, and we all fumbled our way through it to finish our reports. Through my jobs I’ve learned Excel, InDesign, and Final Cut Pro.

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, accommodating was the office to your needs?
I think it’s kind of mystifying. My mom has handled a lot of it, and whenever I’ve gone to the office I don’t feel like they explain things very clearly to me. I’ve had aid all four years, and work-study as part of that package. It hasn’t been the greatest experience for me, but at the same time, I attended a workshop in the Spring about tackling student loan debt where they brought in somebody who runs her own student loan program and that was super helpful.