I recently sat down with Soha Sanchorawala ’18 to get her first impressions of Williams. Like other students, she is slowly starting to carve out a space to call her own on campus.
Marissa: We’ve only been at Williams for a few weeks, but I’m curious what your first impression of the school is.
Soha: Well, I think that it’s a lot smaller than I thought it would be, even though I knew it was going to be only 2,000 people. I’m just surprised by how many familiar faces I see wherever I go. Or even the kinds of clubs I go to, it’s been a lot of very familiar faces and the same people. I find that comforting in some ways and a little bit scary in others. A lot of the things I’m interested in, like social justice and thinking about identity, I wish more people on campus would be interested in. But I also think it’s too early to make a judgment.
Marissa: What clubs have you been going to?
Soha: I went to Queer Student Union, South Asian Student Association, creative writing club, and Black Student Union. I want to join Justice for Palestine. And I joined the rugby team!
Marissa: Are those the same kinds of things you were involved in in high school?
Soha: Besides rugby, yeah, actually. It’s surprised me. I thought I would branch out more, and I’m trying to work on that. I was involved in literary magazines and clubs that have to do with identity and fostering community. I was also part of this racial justice movement that sprung up in my senior spring when there was a lot of racial tension on campus– facilitating discussion and planning events.
Marissa: What are your first impressions of how those issues are playing out at Williams?
Soha: I went to the vigil for victims of police brutality the other day, and I found that it was an incredibly powerful display of solidarity and of community. I was really excited about that, but I don’t know enough about the Williams community yet. We’ll see where it goes.
Marissa: Speaking of the Williams community—HerCampus celebrates tough, independent women such as yourself. Do you think that there is enough of a place for tough women on this campus and in the Williams community?
Soha: I think that there is a lot of conformity here, but also a lot of people pushing boundaries. I already know that I don’t want to be swallowed up into the dominant straight white masculine culture on campus– I’m still working on finding spaces for “tough” women, mostly through the visible upperclass-women. I definitely think visibility is key for creating spaces where women can thrive.