SM: How safe do you feel on campus?
Emily: The community safety officers will escort you home, or the night bus can pick you up. I have never felt unsafe on campus. Plus, everyone is observant and alert. Reedies are protective of each other. If someone has their laptop stolen, not only do we get an email sent out describing what happened, but also students tell each other about it. We definitely look out for each other.

SM: What are the downsides to life at Reed?
Emily: It’s small. The student body is only 1,300 or so, for some people it can get claustrophobic. We call Reed the “bubble.” The workweek is fairly strenuous, most do a lot of homework; all of us do a lot on the weekends as well.

SM: Are the courses challenging?
Emily: Absolutely. We like to joke that we have easy majors but we don’t. It depends on what you major in. Some are harder than others.

SM: How are the junior exams and the senior theses?
Emily: The qualifying exams are in junior year, and it varies depending on major. [Some] do a research project and presentation. Some have a weekend-long take home test.

SM: Is the senior thesis dreaded?
Emily: Yes. They make an effort to make the thesis difficult across the board. It consumes your life over your senior year. There is also something called “thesis karma,” you start that your freshman year. Students go out of their way to participate in psych theses studies of seniors, or bring cookies or coffee to seniors studying in the library.

SM: How big are the classes?
Emily: Most classes are small. The lecture classes like Humanities 110 has the whole freshman class, 300 people. There are smaller conference classes as well, from three to 17 or 18 people.