Annaka Paradis-Burnett

Hello! My name is Annaka (rhymes with Hanukkah), and I’m a rising sophomore at Smith College. Although I am not a first-gen student, I am the first kid in my family to take the “traditional” route to college (i.e. right out of high school), which has been both an exciting and somewhat intimidating experience. Additionally, I’m also a woman of color from a low-income family, so navigating the race and class privilege that exists at a private four-year school like Smith has been another experience I’ve had to contend with. While difficult and even frightening at times, I believe my background and experiences have given me a unique perspective on the world of college and privilege. I have been looking for an outlet to express my perspective for quite some time now, but unfortunately I haven’t been able to find one that meshes with my goals and missions. Many publications by and for college students focus on issues that, to be honest, aren’t really issues. How to pick out a cute outfit for class and do your makeup in less than fifteen minutes. How to stay organized and avoid pulling all-nighters. These may be problems that college students contend with, but when compared with issues like racism, fatphobia, (cis)sexism, and class privilege (along with infinitely many others), they seem unimportant. The other half of my mission is to get my message out to the widest audience possible. That’s why I have been hesitant about writing for Smith’s newspaper The Sophian. Although The Sophian is wonderfully written and edited, its main audience is the Smith College campus, which, by-and-large, is made up of social conscious students who are intimately acquainted with the issues I want to write about. While I’m still no “expert” on social justice, I’ve learned so much in the past year, which has opened up many opportunities for dialogue and conversation. I’d like to provide that opportunity for other students who may attend schools where these dialogues and conversations are not part of the daily life on campus. I think The Odyssey can help me do this. I really love writing (except maybe when I’m writing a fifteen page research paper for a non-major class), and I would love to join the talented team of writers in order to produce content that will get students both on Smith’s campus and on other campuses across the country talking about the important issues. I look forward to hearing their perspectives as well, and learning from them and their arguments. Thank you for your consideration, and I hope to hear from you soon!