Meet this week’s Campus Celebrity, Hayley Smith! Passionate, intellectual, and witty are three words that come to mind when describing this sophisticated sophomore. Whether she’s making people laugh, stepping out of her comfort zone, or taking action to prevent domestic and sexual violence, Hayley is continuously making the Connecticut College campus a better place to be, simply by doing what she loves. Read on to find out more about her performances with her improvisational comedy group, her role as director for As Told by Vaginas, and her position as a peer educator for SafetyNet!
Class Year: 2017
Hometown: New York, New York
Major: Film & Gender and Women’s Studies
Minor: Italian
Extracurricular activities: N2O Improvisational Comedy, Director for As Told by Vaginas, Peer Educator with SafetyNet
Tell us more about what sparked your interest in those things!?
My initial interest in N2O was simply that I always laugh at my own jokes and my mom’s always told me I’m the funniest person she knows, however now that I think about it, she is supposed to say that. I ended up auditioning my freshman year, got in, and lived happily ever after. I had never really preformed on stage prior to N2O so it’s definitely taken me out of my comfort zone, which I absolutely love. My reasoning for joining SafetyNet and wanting to direct As Told by Vaginas stems from the same place. After going through Green Dot training, being in last year’s Vagina Monologues, and taking Training for Transformation with Darcie Folsom, I knew there was more that I wanted to do to help educate our campus about sexual and domestic violence. Especially after last year with all of the Title IX violations and mishandling of sexual and domestic violence cases in other schools, it’s so important that our campus is as informed and active as possible!
What’s your favorite place on campus?
I absolutely love Coffee Grounds. It’s cozy enough to want to get work done but not distracting enough to prevent me from actually doing the work.
What/who is your favorite class or professor so far?
I’ve loved so many of my classes and professors, but I think my favorite might be an Italian class on the Divine Comedy with Professor Proctor. Anyone who has taken a class with Proctor knows how ridiculously passionate he is about Italy and Dante. He is actually the reason why I’m an Italian minor!
What is the biggest life lesson you’ve learned so far at Conn?
Definitely that you won’t regret going out of your comfort zone. Almost all of the things I’ve fallen in love with at Conn stemmed from me stepping out of my comfort zone and remembering that it isn’t the end of the world if you do try something and it doesn’t end up working out – there’s always something else you can try that you might end up loving even more.
How do you feel about being Campus Celebrity?
This is the craziest. Anyone who says being campus celebrity or cutie isn’t on their Conn bucket list is lying. Thank you so much!