Welcome to Women of Wisdom

Though Professor Smith grouped us together based on our seating arrangements, the Women of Wisdom became fast friends today. Huddled around a heavy wood table in the School of Communications, we were giggling within minutes, and took the longest to get back to class after because we were having too much fun.

Sitting across the table from me is petite little Haley, who, from the start, has taken charge of this assignment. The Whitehall, PA native has collected numbers and organized a group chat all within a matter of minutes. Haley is a natural athlete, having played soccer, softball, track, and basketball in high school, so this is most likely where her leadership and organization capabilities came from. Haley gives off a tough girl vibe, as evidenced by her 13 piercings and 2 tattoos. Haley lives a few doors down from me in University Center II, but her Exercise Science Major with a Pre-PA track keeps her busy studying. Haley may seem tough on the outside, but her career path gives us a glimpse into the caring heart she has underneath that exterior. She wants to be a neonatal nurse, specifically saving the newest of lives in the NICU, and her face lit up when she spoke about the babies she wanted to work with.

Nastya, full name Anastasia, undoubtedly brings the diversity to the group, having lived around the world at the young age of 18. She was born in Seattle, Washington but grew up on a tiny Russian island near Japan. In her teen years, she left her family and attended high school both in New Hampshire and in Japan. Her background, however, isn’t even the most exciting part about Nastya. She practiced rhythmic gymnastics for 15 years before coming to the US, and has since transitioned to tennis, with a more relaxed hobby being found in cross-stitching. Nastya is the first cross-stitcher I’ve ever met in my life. She’s studying business administration here at High Point, and loves to eat crepes. Nastya’s wandering spirit hasn’t slowed yet, as she hopes to transfer schools and continue her studies in New York City. Her motivation for taking “Talking About Freedom” was I understand freedom as a concept in a deeper sense. She’s watching all the political strife of late, and watching freedoms being violated, and she feels that she doesn’t know “enough” about freedom to understand how to correct the problems.

Naj is the strongest personality in the group, with her sass cracking us all up already. She sits to my right, and is absolutely grilling the other members to get the most information possible out of them. Originally from Bridgeport, CT, Naj is a sprinter on the Division I track team here at High Point. She runs the 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay, and 60m races, which means she likes to move fast. She is a Biology major, on the pre-Med track, who chose this class because she feels passionate about civil rights and the Amendments to the Constitution. She loves chicken alfredo, or “anything alfredo,” and relaxing in her single room in the Women’s Complex when she’s not thundering down the track.

Anna goes first when talking about ourselves, and she seems very shy. Once we get her talking about herself and what she loves, her wild sense of humor comes out. Anna is actually very outgoing, and knew Haley from before this class, though neither of them remembered meeting. She’s from Charlotte, NC, and has the same major as I do, which is Strategic Communication. Though not her choice of study, Anna loves law, which is why she took this class. She is specifically interested in the First Amendment, which she hopes to dive deeper into. A lover of tater tots and travelling the world, the girl to my left is looking forward to her family trip to London this summer.