I'd always been a A-student, top of my class in two high schools, but (like many young women of my generation --and later ones) I wasn't sure if that meant I was "really smart." I choose Wellesley partly for its beautiful campus and the wonderful Jewett Arts Center, and partly because I was offered a full scholarship. But mostly I came in hopes of testing my intellect. Could I read Plato and Aristotle and Kant for myself? Have something original to say about Shakespeare or Henry James? Write good (or at least decent) poetry? Choreograph interesting modern dances? Act in a classic play? Learn to appreciate art and architecture? Come to a deeper understanding of the scientific method? Wellesley enabled me to explore all these areas at a high level of intellectual/artistic rigor and satisfaction, and it opened up new areas of curiosity that encompassed almost everything! I have built a rewarding professional and personal life on these abilities and interests ever since. And I have lifelong Wellesley friends who sustain and enrich my life after fifty-plus years.
Validated, deepened my intellectual and aesthetic abilities and introduced me to feminism.