Born and raised in San Diego, Calif., Henderson attended UCLA for both her undergraduate and graduate education. As an undergraduate, she studied history and art history with a minor in English literature. In graduate school, she received a master’s in library and information science.

During and after college, Henderson worked for UCLA’s orientation program before later getting an administrative job there in academic counseling. She enjoyed both of these jobs so much that she considered getting a master’s in academic advising, but kept finding herself drawn to libraries after having volunteered at a few public libraries in her area.

“I loved studying art history in college, so I was elated to discover that the profession of art librarianship existed,” Henderson said.

In her late twenties, she went back to school to pursue her master’s degree, and began working part time as an intern at the Getty Research Institute and interning at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens. While working at these institutions, she realized that her true calling was to become an art librarian.

After graduating, she continued to work at both the Huntington and the Getty, and after spending several years at both jobs, she began working full time as a reference librarian at the Getty Research Institute. Henderson assisted visiting scholars as well as the Getty Museum’s curators and helped move and organize the library collections when the new Getty Center opened in 1997.

“It was a wonderful, exciting job, but I really missed working with and helping college students,” Henderson explained.

Remembering how much she enjoyed working at UCLA, she began looking for academic librarian positions and dreamt of moving from Los Angeles to New England. When she saw the job posting for an art librarian at Wellesley, she jumped at the opportunity.

“I recognize that I’ve had a wonderful career path and am profoundly grateful to have worked at such incredible institutions with superb library collections, but I’ve definitely been the happiest here at Wellesley College,” Henderson said.

Henderson has been the art librarian at Wellesley for 16 years now. At Wellesley, she is part of the library collections group, which is responsible for the acquisition, description, maintenance, preservation and interpretation of library collections, resources, special collections and official records of the college.

As the art librarian, Henderson’s tasks include preparing for library instruction sessions, updating the library’s art research guide, setting up trials for new databases, troubleshooting printer problems, attending meetings with her research and instruction librarian colleagues to discuss information literacy, communicating with potential donors and helping student workers resolve complicated issues.

“I love the varied work; there is a lot of juggling of tasks, and the fact that the art library is embedded in the arts building enables me to be in regular contact with the art faculty and students, so my days are never dull!” she said.

Besides the art and architecture collections, Henderson is also responsible for developing and managing the library’s print and electronic resources in different subject areas, and serves as the library collections’ liaison to those academic departments.

The most rewarding aspect of her job, Henderson said, is helping students with their research, which is often complicated because so much scholarly material in the visual arts is still only available in print. She enjoys connecting people to resources they did not know existed, and her goal is to empower students in their abilities to locate, evaluate and critically use different resources.

“Hopefully this contributes to their understanding the value and applicability of library skills to their day-today lives after college,” Henderson said.

The biggest challenge of her job is juggling all of her duties at once. Much of her job requires concentration for long periods of time, but she also needs to have an open door for those who need help with research. She explained that she constantly needs to switch her mental gears but finds joy in her job nonetheless.

“My own education continues every day,” Henderson said.

She loves the diverse community at Wellesley and feels lucky to have the opportunities to work with students one-on-one. However, she hopes that students also remember to savor each day here because the time passes very quickly.

“Study what you’re most passionate about. Now is the time. The rest will follow…For students who are worried that they don’t have the perfect plan for what they’ll do after graduation: it’s totally OK,” Henderson said. “Many of us had only a fuzzy, abstract of idea what we wanted to do, and it can be very nourishing to take a few years of trying different things and to just adapt to experience life post-college.”

Born in Nebraska and raised in Missouri, Wilson has had a passion for both history and volleyball for over 40 years. After graduating from Central Missouri State with a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in history, he taught high school social studies for 10 years just outside Kansas City, MO. Then, in 1991, Wilson and his wife moved to Boston so that he could pursue a PhD in history at Brandeis University. However, after completing all of his coursework, finishing most of the dissertation research and completing a two-year graduate fellowship at the Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology at MIT, Wilson’s dissertation grant money ran out. He then decided to work part time for a year as an assistant volleyball coach to pay the bills.

“My plan was to work at Wellesley for one year while I finished my dissertation, then become a history professor somewhere. I’m still here,” Wilson said.

He is not surprised that he ended up in an athletics department at a liberal arts college, as he has always valued education and sports. His biggest passion is volleyball, which he has played and coached for almost 40 years.

“I love the choreography, the athleticism, the power and finesse, the logic, the angles, the sounds, the tactile sensations… everything. I even love the way the ball smells. So yeah, I guess I’m passionate about volleyball,” Wilson stated.

Aside from his seasonal job as the assistant coach, Wilson also spends time scheduling events at the Keohane Sports Center (KSC) and at the outdoor athletics facilities. He schedules Physical Education (PE) classes, varsity contests and practices, club sports, student organizations, outside groups, meetings and major events. The KSC holds an average of 12,000 events each year.

“My job is to make them all fit and keep everyone as satisfied as possible,” Wilson said.

In addition, he does PE registrar work each day, working with students, the registrar’s office and class deans. As the PE registrar, he oversees PE registrations, maintains student records, builds the PE schedule each year and is the first point of contact for students as they pursue fulfilling the graduation requirement. His workload tends to be the heaviest in the weeks around the start and end of each semester.

“It’s challenging work, but I enjoy it,” Wilson said. His three roles at the athletics department each present different challenges. But, according to him, they all boil down to logic problems, which he enjoys solving. And the rewards for his three roles are the same: interacting with members of the Wellesley community every day. He enjoys working both with his colleagues and with students.

“I’ve worked here for 20 years, and every morning as I drive down [route] 135 and approach the entrance to the college, I think to myself, ‘Man I get to work at Wellesley.’ As my wife always said, I have the best job in the world,” Wilson said.

As someone who enjoys reading, solving crossword puzzles and looking at maps and did some database work while in graduate school, his job positions at Physical Education, Recreation and Athletics (PERA) suit him well.

Wilson advises Wellesley students to explore outside of their comfort zones while at college.

“Sleep more. Exercise more. Laugh more. Most importantly (and this is coming from a perfectionist), stop trying to be perfect. There are things in life that are much more important than winning volleyball matches or getting an ‘A’ in organic chemistry,” he explained.

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Thomas-Starck earned a degree in foreign languages from Rhodes College, and later completed her masters in French literature at Boston College in 1987.

While studying to be a French teacher, Thomas-Starck had several jobs that led her to realize her interest in international education. In college, she had a work study job at a study abroad program in Oxford, and in graduate school, she worked for a faculty member who ran an exchange program in France. These experiences led her to fall in love with being part of international study programs.

“I kind of fell into the field of international education,” said Thomas-Starck.

After moving to Wellesley, Thomas-Starck became the mother of two children and was not looking for a job. However, when she came across the job posting for director of international study at Wellesley, she applied and began working at the college.

“[I] came across this job posting quite by chance and applied on a whim,” explained Thomas-Starck. “My job is actually really interesting, but you wouldn’t think so if I describe a typical day!”

At the Office of International Study (OIS), Thomas-Starck’s job requires her to interact not only with Wellesley students and staff but also with people all over the world. Because most of the people she interacts with are scattered across the globe in various time zones, she spends half her work days writing emails. Her typical day at work also includes discussing study abroad plans with students, talking to faculty involved with different study abroad programs and communicating with international visitors and administrators. The goal is to figure out all of the logistics involving studying abroad. Thomas-Starck’s work makes it possible for students to have a successful experience while abroad as well as a smooth return back to campus.

“We help with transfer credit issues and also run a number of programs so that students can reflect upon and share their experiences. I particularly enjoy working with students on Tanner applications,” said Thomas-Starck.

By overseeing Wellesley’s programs and collaborating with outside program providers, colleges and universities, Thomas-Starck helps students identify and get into the programs that fit them best. Some of her other responsibilities include managing Wellesley’s study abroad programs; health and safety protocols; financial arrangements; partnership agreements; credit transfer issues and outreach to students, faculty and potential partners. All of this, she said, is made possible through the help of her colleague at OIS, Kristiana Graves ’13, who organizes study abroad information sessions and is the lead advisor for programs in the UK. Despite Thomas-Starck’s busy work days at OIS, she appreciates the people she gets to work with.

“One of the things I appreciate most about my job is how varied it is and how many different people I work with: talented and motivated students, dedicated and brilliant faculty, hard working and creative staff colleagues, really interesting international colleagues,” Thomas-Starck explained.

Sometimes she has the opportunity to travel for the purposes of visiting student programs or meeting with colleagues. She loves traveling and learning about other cultures, especially their food.

When she’s in her office, Thomas-Starck feels as though there just aren’t enough hours in the day. Getting students to read and respond to her emails also poses a challenge. Because email is the best mode of communicating with Wellesley students, both oncampus and abroad, she relies on email responses to successfully complete her duties.

Thomas-Starck considers the Wellesley community to be special and diverse, and she feels lucky to be a part of it. She believes that Wellesley students especially excel at being kind to one another and hopes that students enjoy their time at Wellesley, as well as their time abroad.

DiFonzo was born in Chattanooga, TN and graduated from Wellesley with a double major in political science and women’s and gender studies. While at Wellesley, she was a work-study student who struggled both with paying for college and also with finding a job after graduation. The month she began looking for a job, a space opened up at Wellesley’s SFS. So, ten days after graduation, she began her job at financial services and has been there ever since. In July of 2017, she became the director of SFS and her schedule is always packed.

“You should see my calendar. It’s meetings after meetings after meetings. Lots of meetings,” said DiFonzo.

As the director,  DiFonzo manages her staff and sets priorities for SFS. Additionally, if President Johnson or the Wellesley College Board of Trustees have any finance-related questions, it is her responsibility to answer them. She also writes reports and surveys for the U.S. Department of Education and does her best to support the staff in guiding students who may need help.

Some days, DiFonzo will have back-to-back meetings, and other days, she will have one meeting in the morning and the rest of the day to deal with problems that have arisen around the office.

“There is no ‘typical’ day at work,” she explained.

Fully staffed, SFS has 12 employees, including DiFonzo, working to help students with anything finance-related.

“[SFS] is in charge of Workday, financial aid, student billing, parking tickets, lockouts, one cards, departmental transactions, summer financial aid, travel programs, wintersession, summer trips, student employment paperwork, on campus jobs, educational financing and study abroad finances,” said DiFonzo.

SFS’ responsibilities change depending on the time of the year. Currently, the office is busy helping prospective students and families for fall 2018 and preparing for summer session. In mid-February, DiFonzo supported the staff in organizing the financial aid for prospective students, as the deadline for applications was on Feb. 15. Including prospective and current students, the office has over 5,000 applications to review before the 2018 academic year begins in the fall.

“Financial aid at Wellesley follows a very defined formula,” said DiFonzo.

SFS collects demographic information such as, number of children, cost of living and income in order to calculate the total net worth of each student. They also take into account special circumstances, including the retirement of a parent or guardian, medical bills or the need of care for elderly grandparents.

“Unlike large universities or state schools, which give merit scholarships, Wellesley looks at the details that allow us to see every family closely and see any circumstances that may inhibit payment,” said DiFonzo.

Wellesley is also a 100 percent need-blind school, which means that the college does not take into account a prospective student’s financial situation when making a decision on admission. SFS collects the information because it is committed to helping students who may be in need. Sometimes there’s a gap between demonstrated need and what a family thinks that they need, and SFS might not be able to accomodate for that gap. However, the office works hard to find the best fit for each family.

SFS answers questions during their open counsel hours every day of the week, as well as during their evening drop-in hours, and provides students with tips on creating the College Scholarship Services (CSS) profiles that are provided by CollegeBoard.

“Financial aid is complicated and scary. But my staff can’t help you if you don’t tell us. We need to know from you what you need help with,” said DiFonzo.

DiFonzo advises that returning students drop by SFS with any questions they have about any of their financial aid applications to successfully complete them. For her, there is no such thing as a silly question. Having the same questions asked multiple times helps the office to address those issues better and spread the word more.

“A reward of working at Wellesley is knowing that the work I do makes Wellesley possible. A challenge would be when there’s nothing more we can do for the students,” DiFonzo explained.

DiFonzo still has her hoop, her Wellesley diploma, a stained glass ornament of Wellesley and other Wellesley-related items all around her office. She said she is lucky enough to have been at Wellesley for almost 15 years.

After her mother received bypass heart surgery when Baden was 12 years old, Baden became interested in providing compassionate medical care to others. In fact, she was so motivated that she aced her middle school science exam on the cardiovascular system that year.

Since that year, Baden’s interest in the field of health and medicine grew continuously. She graduated from St. Elizabeth’s Hospital School of Nursing in Boston and began Community Health Nursing while working at a hospital in Huntington Beach, California. She has now been working at Wellesley for five and a half years.

Baden has focused her career in part on nutrition education. This focus has extended to many classes, clubs and events at Wellesley. For example, Baden teaches nutrition basics in the First Year Physical Education Wellness Class series.

“If I can empower students to make good nutrition choices during their first year of college, I truly hope this will lead to a lifestyle that will serve them well, long after they’ve left Wellesley,” she said.

Baden explained that she wants students to study their health status not only for now but also for the future, as many chronic diseases can be prevented if people are aware of the risks earlier. She hopes that lifestyles taught in this class will extend even after the students graduate.

In addition to teaching in the classroom, Baden is the advisor to the BHEs (Balance Health Educators), a student organization that emphasizes the importance of a balanced lifestyle. Following the framework WellN.E.S.St. (Nutrition, Exercise, Sleep and Stress resiliency), Baden has worked to create self-care events on campus, including massages, therapy dogs and dark chocolate fondue. The Second annual WellN.E.S.St. festival will be held in February. These events allow students to freely explore the resources that are available on campus and learn healthy lifestyles.

At the health center, Baden’s work varies from day to day. The list of her responsibilities is endless: orientation training, flu clinics, athletic wellness sessions, BHE and Peer Health Educator training and meetings, First Year P.E. Nutrition classes, travel health education sessions, Take A Break Calendar, monthly Wellness Outreach Collaborative and Division of Student Life meetings, health education outreach via Facebook, Google Group and plasma screens, individual student health consults and Parent Newsletter updates. While taking care of each duty, she also supports the Health Services staff to satisfy the needs of the students.

Baden said that one of the initiatives she is most excited by is the Wellness Outreach Collaborative (WOC). Created three years ago, WOC is a joint effort between Health, Counseling, PERA (Physical Education, Recreation, Athletics), the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, AVI Fresh, Student Life, Sustainability and College Government. The goal is to develop a Wellesley-specific Wellness Model that aims to benefit the entire Wellesley community.

Baden said she feels blessed to be working with the Health Service staff and learning from her co-workers over the years. Baden said that Claudia Trevor-Wright, the assistant director of Health Education, has played a special role in mentoring her. Medical Director Dr. Vanessa Britto and the Associate Director Tanya Sullivan have also influenced Baden.

Through her work at Health Service as well as the mentorship she offers student organizations, she hopes that students will maintain healthy habits—particularly in the area of nutrition—as these can greatly impact their future.

“In my career, one of the elements I’ve always focused on was the importance of nutrition, and how what we choose to feed our bodies is essential in determining not only what your health status is now, but especially what your future will look like,” said Baden.

Davidson’s interest in baking began when she was young. She explained that her grandmother used to bake wedding cakes, and Davidson still has pictures of the masterpieces her grandmother made. Davidson also took a cooking class in the eighth grade, which had her so “enamored with cooking” that she instantly knew she wanted to work in the foodservice industry. When she was older, she attended Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I., graduating with a Bachelors of Science in Baking and Pastry Arts.

Before she began her career in educational dining, Davidson worked in hotels, restaurants, wholesale and retail bakeries. But, while she was beginning a family, she decided to search for a job closer to home. She was introduced to Wellesley’s Pastry Chef position by Bates’ Chef Manager Kevin Kesterson, whom she had previously worked with in Boston in 2000. She was eager to take a new opportunity.

Davidson explained that working in educational dining allows her to achieve a better work-life balance for her family.

“Having a family and being in the foodservice industry can be extremely difficult,” said Davidson. “I had already worked for 13 years in places where you were guaranteed to work holidays, weekends and with few days off. Educational dining was a welcome change to that type of schedule. I wanted to be more available to my son and not miss out on the important days and achievements of his growing up.”

Here at Wellesley, Davidson’s days usually start at 5 a.m.

“In the mornings, I am responsible for the union employee call-out line,” said Davidson.

To run the kitchen seamlessly, it is her responsibility to replace employees who are sick and help her staff decorate pastries, while also keeping up with paperwork. Davidson added that her “afternoons are usually for ordering and menu ideas.” Through research and home baking, she challenges herself to produce new desserts and create new twists on old favorites.

Educational dining, Davidson stated, brings her challenges that are “typically self-imposed.” She enjoys challenging herself to come up with new types of desserts and bread recipes. Mixing comfort items with trendy ones, she plays around with savory ingredients to see how they pair with sweetness and tries to keep things new, fresh and seasonal.

“Pastry is a science… If you put too much baking soda or eggs or even sugar, you will not get the intended outcome. It is an exacting science that calls for precise measurements,” Davidson said.

Educational dining demands hard work and comes with constant pressure to produce good outcomes. Despite the challenges, Davidson loves working within the college community.

“I think the community, especially since President Johnson came, is wonderful. In the end, we are all here for the students. Whether you are cleaning common areas, fixing pipes, or cooking, the final result revolves around these [students],” she said.

Davidson participates in most, if not all, special dining hall events, including the Chili Cook-off and Cupcake Wars, which “allows for fun, different items for the students and [her] staff.” Since she does not work in a dining hall, Davidson and her staff do not get to see the students on a daily basis, but she agrees with other staff members that “it is great to see the students rally around each other in everything from a food event, to a sports game, to an injustice.”

Davidson’s favorite part about working at Wellesley is the feedback she receives from students.

“Sometimes I get approached during events, or even when I am eating lunch, by students that want to tell me about their dessert favorites. I love that! The best is when a student will ask for a particular item that is not on the current menu, that they loved and want to see again. It makes everything we do worthwhile,” she said.

My-Linh DeBonis ’19, the student ambassador of Babson, explained some of the duties that are required of students in this role. Some of these responsibilities include working with the other two BOW Ambassadors to “[facilitate] the cross registration system and [promote] collaboration between not only the BOW clubs but also the clubs and organizations offered at each of the schools.”

According to DeBonis, students have requested a more transparent and easily accessible process for cross registration in courses. In response, she designed an infographic illustrating the details of cross- registration and posted it on the Babson Portal. The student ambassador from Olin, Sara Ballantyne ’19 also created infographics on the library pages for the students.

Some of the events previously held by the Ambassadors are BOW Sushi, BOW-lentine’s Day, BOW Collab Logo Design challenge, information sessions on cross registering and the BOW Organization Fair.

Sydney Chen ’19, a Wellesley student, and Elena Yang ’19, a Babson student, both attended the BOW Sushi event held at Olin this year. According to Chen, the sushi event was a chance for students to chat and meet new people. The BOW organization provided sushi and board games.

Chen said she enjoyed the opportunity to meet others off campus. “I had a great time! For me, the best part was the chance to get off campus and talk to new people,” she said. Yang added that she “wish[ed] there were more BOW events.”

The BOW Student Ambassadors also seek to build connections and increase collaboration across similar organizations at the different colleges. Katherine Hansen ’19, the Wellesley Ambassador, said that the women’s entrepreneurial body at Babson (CWEL) had partnered with Wellesley Women in Business (WWIB).

DeBonis explained, “The hope of BOW events is for students to be more aware of the resources and opportunities that are offered at the other two schools. In addition, it is a great way to network.” DeBonis also said that because the program was initiated recently, many students may not be aware of this collaboration. In fact, DeBonis said that “it is always fun to see the students’ reactions when I tell them they can access the library or the dining hall at Olin and Wellesley.” However, she is hopeful for BOW, because when three schools work together they “reach a solution to a problem much faster and the solution is not only insightful, but also creative and diverse.”

Hansen also stated that the BOW Collab is an opportunity to bring out the excellent field of study of each school: engineering, entrepreneurial business and liberal arts. It also fosters friendship and community beyond the academic collaboration.

The BOW Three College Collaboration is beneficial not only for students but also for the faculty members. Taking advantage of the different approaches to teaching in the three colleges, the faculty can participate in programs such as Teaching & Learning Workshop, Curricular Innovation Fellows and Faculty Connections. The goal of the Curricular Innovation Fellows Program is to develop curricula and provide tools to aid students in their learning. Faculty groups, with two or more BOW institutions, can submit their proposal and, if chosen, are awarded a stipend for their work. Similarly, the BOW Faculty Connections Program brings together groups of faculty for informal conversations over lunch and/or after-work drinks.

One faculty member is chosen from each college to be part of the Faculty Steering Committee (FSC). This group helps facilitate the BOW connections on his/her campus. For the 2016-17 academic year, Professor Richard Cleary of Statistics and Sports Research represents Babson, Professor Ben Linder of Design and Mechanical Engineering represents Olin and Professor Ted Ducas of Physics represents Wellesley. The BOW faculty members can guide any questions about the Collaboration to the FSC members.

The BOW collaboration also offers Presidential Innovation Project funds, which are available for faculty, staff and students. Created by the three college presidents, the project grants monetary awards based on the following criteria: participation from at least two of the colleges, participation from multiple constituencies, impact on the BOW community, self-contained nature of the projects and plan for the project’s outcome as well as the circulation of work.

Additional information such as the shuttle bus schedule, alumni news and community events, is available on the BOW website.

The kickoff event, held on Dec. 13, 2016, featured panel discussions on the program’s history with renowned Professors Mary Allen and Dot Widmayer, and Sonja Hicks, Professor Emerita. It also included talks by six recent alumnae: Shloka Ananthanarayanan ’08, Eleanor Fleming ’08, Kate Lipford ’08, Natalya Maharaj ’09, Tracy Wang ’10 and Ruth Wang’ondu ’07. The discussions covered various topics and perspectives related to revolutionizing research since the founding of the department at Wellesley.

To continue the celebration, the Research Retreat was held just before the beginning of the semester on Jan. 23, 2017. According to Professor T. Kaye Peterman, the director of the biochemistry department, the event was an opportunity for students to share their research with the community. It also featured a keynote address by renowned immunologist Sarah J. Schlesinger ’81 on “Dendritic Cells, HIV Vaccines and the Nobel Prize.”

Peterman believes that BIOC is a deeply interdisciplinary field with emphasis especially on meaningful and independent undergraduate research. The discipline of biochemistry is a combination of both the physical and natural sciences. Wellesley’s course offerings include classes on cellular physiology, a study of the activities that keep a cell alive, and biophysical chemistry, a study of the physical properties of biological macromolecules.

Peterman suggested that what sets this department apart from others is its ability to “synthesize [the two subjects] into a unique exploration of biological structure and function at the macromolecular level.” The department has explored new fields of study within biochemistry such as genomics, the study of genomes, and proteomics, the study of proteins. These disciplines continue to emerge and evolve with the help of independent research conducted by students and professors.

Like other science departments at Wellesley, the biochemistry curriculum emphasizes the need for future researchers to not only be familiar with laboratory work with complex instruments and computers, but also to have strong problem solving techniques, collaboration skills, awareness of ethical issues and the ability to think across disciplinary boundaries.

The department will continue the celebration this spring with several talks by prominent BIOC alumnae who have made impactful and lasting contributions to their fields. Details will be distributed when these events become finalized. In conjunction with the celebration of the department’s 50th anniversary, students majoring in biochemistry have taken the opportunity to reflect on the discipline which they hope to concentrate in.

Hannah Jacobs ’19, a sophomore considering the biochemistry major, says that she is interested in the major because it is both fascinating and challenging.

“It’s specialized, but it will give me a breadth of knowledge about biological systems,” she said, in reference to the concentration. Jacobs advises that any students thinking of majoring in this area should plan ahead and take organic chemistry as soon as possible, as it will “give [them] an idea whether the major is right for [them].”

Catherine Xie ’19, a sophomore double-majoring in biochemistry and French, stated that her inspiration to join this field came from her grandmother, Pan Huazhen, who was a biochemist in China. By attending summer research courses in high school and investigating subjects that interested her, she found her fascination for science.

Xie has also channeled her passion of science by being part of the organization BC2 which arranges both lectures and dessert series with professors and student research panels with current biochemistry majors. Although she wishes there were “fewer requirements for the major and more flexibility in the types of courses,” Xie’s favorite part of the department is “hearing about all the amazing research that [the] faculty carries out on campus.”

A few weeks ago, a new program was implemented called the Just Ask Me (JAM) program, which aims to help familiarize students with both the building and various science department offerings. This program operates Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and is located in front of Leaky Beaker and beside the spiral stairs. Every day, one first year and one upperclass student is available at the table, ready to assist anyone that comes by.

Gaby Varela ’20, who is involved in the program, explained that the “program is like the FAQ pages on websites,” where students can ask “questions about where a classroom is, advice about a particular class, resources available to students and research opportunities.”

It is a paid, student-run program through which students, professors and everyone else can benefit from the information offered there. Anyone with questions or concerns about being a STEM major and even non-STEM majors who want to be more comfortable in the Science Center can use this program.

Kalau Tanaka-Pesamino ’20 said that professors also benefit from this program because when JAMs help students find the professors’ offices, they are more likely to attend office hours.

Even if a student is not a STEM major, all Wellesley students are required to take at least three courses in science and math. They can utilize this program to inquire more about the variety of courses offered, which ones satisfy various requirements, and which ones interest them.

“We want to help STEM and non-STEM majors feel more comfortable in the science center, so all students will benefit from this program by getting to know a great resource,” Tanaka-Pesamino said.

Varela also stated the program will be leading several destressing activities for students, including wellness trails in the Science Center and blackout poetry. Not only does this initiative aim to create more awareness of the resources that are open to students, but it also allows students to mingle with their peers and students concentrating in other science disciplines.

As a result of the work of two Wellesley alumnae, Emily Mason ’92 and Emily Marciniak ’95, and their faculty advisor Glenn Stark, the program offers limited free admission to the Boston Museum of Science. Students can get free admission to the exhibit halls, Omni Theater and Planetarium on a first come, first serve basis. These tickets can be obtained from JoNan Bilodeau, the Science Center Office Manager and advisor for the Just Ask Me program.

Bilodeau started the program to make the Science Center less confusing. “We hope to help demystify the space. There are so many opportunities available here that many students may not know about,” she stated.

In addition to the work in the Science Center, the program has a mentorship program for the student workers. The first year JAMs work closely with and are mentored by JAM seniors.

While getting paid and helping other students find their way in the Science Center, the first years are also able to benefit themselves by learning more about the school and about prospective majors from seniors they work with.

Tanaka-Pesamino hopes that this program will lead the Science Center to be a more friendly and welcoming place where students can enjoy study breaks, snacks and team building activities. Varela agreed and aspires for the program to support students and set them up for success.

According to Student Financial Services (SFS) Director Scott Wallace-Juedes, about 60 percent of Wellesley students received financial aid awards this year. “The way that Wellesley packages financial aid is, if you qualify for financial aid, the first $2,100 of your financial award is always work-study. Then, if you qualify for no loan package, the rest is a grant. If you have a loan package, we give the rest after the loan as grant. The vast majority of award is grant awards.”

In the 2015-16 academic year, about 1,200 of 1,601 students who applied for financial aid were granted work study in their financial aid awards. Wallace-Juedes stated that, of those students, about 63 percent received pay through on-campus jobs. Although many students choose not to apply for on-campus jobs and remain unemployed,many claim that job searching on campus requires a lot of effort and often does not lead to employment.

Radhika Menon ’19, a member of SLAP, claims that first years struggling with the stress of adjusting to a new place are given little to no advice on how to find jobs in order to fulfill their work study, other than the direct deposit and work-study session during orientation. Furthermore, she stated that the financial aid letter does not clearly articulate that work study is not guaranteed for students who receive it in their package. In other words, a student is not guaranteed a job once they arrive on campus.

“Our initiative hopes to make the process of getting a job easier and clearer, demystifying the concept of work-study to students who receive it, and ensuring that work-study students are prioritized during the application process,” Menon said. Menon hopes that students who need the job will be prioritized, and there will be a systematic reform of Wellesley College’s work study policy.

Aubrey Simonson ’19 agreed with Menon, stating that college is more difficult for students who come from working-class backgrounds and lack the resources of their counterparts. Simonson, also a member of SLAP, stated that Wellesley College is nothing like the world these students are coming from, and it is difficult to adjust to Wellesley’s environment. Students on financial aid have spent hours filling out forms like the Federal Application for Student Aid (FAFSA), anxious about their ability to afford attending Wellesley. Beginning the year with more forms and worrying about not getting a job on campus can be too overwhelming.

“Not everyone on financial aid has actually had to go through that process [of job searching] yet, and asking for a job for the first time in your life is not something that you want to have to do your first week away from your parents and your hometown and your friends,” Simonson explained.

Approximately 1,200 students are interested in finding work on campus; however, the college does not provide enough opportunities. The popular choices, such as library help desk or mail services, are filled up quickly. Other jobs, such as lab assistant or student teacher, are secured for upperclass students before the school year begins. Still others, such as many jobs in the Office of Admission, are exclusively for first-years. A student who decides for various reasons, to seek a job in their upper-class years can be denied many opportunities.

Wallace-Juedes said the process of finding employment varies among students depending on how proactive and selective they are when job searching. It also depends on the time of year in which they are conducting their search. According to Wallace Juedes, some students apply to several jobs one week then several more in the following weeks until they get one while others wait for a reply from one job before applying to another. Moreover, some only want to work as assistants while others do not filter any jobs.

After agreeing that students from low income families had less exposure to resources and therefore struggle financially, members of SLAP researched other schools which offered ‘work-study’ awards to compare the different systems. Most schools, including Brandeis University, Smith College, University of Massachusetts, Amherst and Swarthmore College, give priority employment to federal work study students for about two weeks after school starts, just like Wellesley College. At Mount Holyoke, all jobs are broken up into five categories and only work study students can apply to category 1 jobs. Students at Williams College are all hired through the website HR, where only work-study students can be employed for work-study jobs. Some schools, such as Grinnell College and Pomona College, guarantee jobs to students with a work-study award.

SLAP has confronted many issues on campus, including higher pay and labor rights. Last year, SLAP advocation for compensation of student leaders, including Residents Assistants (RAs) and House Presidents (HPs) for their work on campus, an initiative that was approved last year and took effect this academic year. SLAP hopes that their initiative can guarantee jobs to those students with work study jobs, prioritizing those who need it the most.