Her College Story: A Unique Experience

By Khoobi Gangdev
Douglass Residential College
Class of 2014
Major: Marketing

 
Attending a women’s college is a unique experience. It molds you into a completely different person, because you are surrounded by such strong and supportive women! As I rush headlong towards graduation, I can’t help but reflect on the huge role that Douglass Residential College has played in my four years at Rutgers University.

As an international student, I am no stranger to homesickness. Home for me is another continent and another time zone. However, at Douglass, I found a community of supportive women who were open to everything I had to say. Believe it or not, my closest friend, who is also my roommate, is also a Douglass woman.

As a Douglass student, I am required to take a class called Knowledge and Power: Issue’s in Women’s Leadership. Before I attended the class, I never had the chance to critically think about issues that affect women in everyday life. The discussions in the class made me think back about my experiences with things like cat-calling and street harassment, and put them into a completely different perspective. As a mentor for the same class for two consecutive semesters now, I have had the chance to mentor about twenty women each semester. Just by listening, I have learned so much from each one of these women.

Douglass has a lot of traditions, which all of us, current students and alumnae, are very proud. One of my favorite traditions is Sacred Path. Each year, Sacred Path celebrates the moving up of classes with an elaborate ceremony, where each class year is given a charm that represents the year that has passed. Once a Douglass woman, always a Douglass woman.

My favorite experience at Douglass, hands down, was my internship with the Social Media and Communications Team. The internship taught me so much in a span of year. I learned about how it is possible to work independently while working in a team. I also gained valuable skills such as Social Media Marketing, Analytics for Social Media Platforms; and coming up with engaging content. These skills are going to be a great help to me as I step out into the world.

I came to Douglass because it was an all-women’s college, and that made my parents a little less worried about me attending college. But I fell in love with the beautiful campus, the old historical buildings, its traditions, and staggering number of opportunities it gives its students to succeed in life.

                                            © 2014 - Khoobi Gangdev