Wellesley College Swimming & Diving

Last January, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright wished me, a senior swimmer on the Wellesley swimming and diving team, good luck at the Seven Sisters Championship swim meet. The reason that I was face-to-face with such a remarkable figure (and a Wellesley class of 1959 alum!) was the Madeleine Korbel Albright Institute for Global Affairs.

This January, I had the amazing opportunity to participate in the inaugural year of this Institute, along with 40 other Wellesley students. We spent two weeks attending lectures by, and interacting with professors who study global issues, as well as alumnae who are working in the field. With students of all different majors, I learned about everything from the policy dilemmas of tackling world hunger, to religion and violence, or community-based approaches to global public health. On one of my favorite days, we heard about the chemistry of climate change in the morning from a prominent Wellesley professor, and in the afternoon we heard about the work of a Wellesley alum who works on various environmental issues at the World Bank.

The third week was both the most intense and rewarding part of the Institute for me. Students gave group presentations in front of Secretary Albright on the 8 UN Millennium Development Goals and presented to her our ideas about creative solutions for the various problems facing global development. After each presentation, we heard Secretary Albright’s feedback about our ideas, and stories about how she had confronted these issues while she was in office. Along with the three weeks of courses this January, Wellesley is providing all of the Albright fellows with a generous stipend to pursue an internationally focused internship this summer.

Looking back over the past three weeks, I realize that in many ways the Albright Institute has been representative of my entire Wellesley experience. Just like the Institute, Wellesley College itself has provided me with an exceptional and innovative learning experience, allowed me to interact one-on-one with incredibly smart and interesting professors in smaller class sizes, helped me to pursue my academic passions outside of the classroom and given me access to a huge alumnae network of women who are accomplishing truly amazing things all over the world. I truly believe that there is no other undergraduate institution that focuses so much on individual student learning, or that provides its students with the opportunity to work one-on-one with such a prominent professor or alum. Other universities and colleges might have famous professors, but with large class sizes and few office hours, what are the chances that you will get to actually talk to them in person?

I was recently discussing the Institute with my mom, and she said to me “you are so lucky that you chose Wellesley!” and I think she’s absolutely right. Where else would I find a coach who cares so much about me as an individual and a student that she is willing to come to the pool early in the morning to help me get in my practices before class? Or professors who make sure that class ends on time so that I can make it to a meet? The point is, I don’t think I could find a more perfect place to be a student and an athlete.