Jenna Strizak

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Jenna Strizak

Jenna Strizak
Senior Assistant Director of Admissions
Degree: B.A., Hampshire College (Religion & Literature)
Originally from: East Brunswick, NJ
E-mail: jstrizak@hampshire.edu
AIM name: hampshireadjenna

Reason I love working at Hampshire: I believe quite strongly in the transformative power of a Hampshire education and the amazing things that can happen when students play the most active role in their studies. Also, the people are fabulous.

Favorite thing about living in the Five College area: Two words: facial piercings. Also it is the best place to play "count the Subarus." Bonus points if it has a gay pride sticker on it. Double bonus points if the sticker is shaped like an animal of some sort.

Piece of advice for prospects in the college search process: Trust your own instincts. Be willing to dig a little bit beyond the obvious, or beyond what might be expected of you. There are hundreds of GREAT schools out there, and probably more than one of them is right for you.

Piece of advice for applicants: Show us yourself. I know that sounds like a ridiculous cliché, but I want to know what makes you quirky, what you hate, what you love more than anything else in the world… Also, know that we as a staff want this process to be as transparent as possible. Got a question? PLEASE ask us, and we will answer as honestly and completely as we can. There should be no real mystery in this; don’t let anyone else tell you differently.

Favorite book and why: Anything by Flannery O’Connor, because she demonstrates that one can be pious and have a sense of humor concurrently.
Favorite movie and why: Saved, Almost Famous, In America, Napoleon Dynamite (yes I know it’s trendy.) Mostly because I didn’t fall asleep halfway through them, like I tend to with most films.

Favorite vacation/travel spot: Sand Mountain, Alabama, to sing from Sacred Harp.

Favorite way to procrastinate: Compulsive blog reading, elaborate cooking, navel gazing, playing dance dance revolution (poorly), watching Alias DVD's (especially season 2).

Favorite Quote: “I don't know what that means, but it sounds disgusting.” –Buster, Arrested Development

I'm inspired by: People for whom faith is a tangible presence in their lives, the brilliance of my friends, and Jon Stewart (does anyone NOT have a crush on him?).

Favorite song or lyrics: I love anything by Gillian Welch, Ralph Stanley, or Emmylou Harris. My vice is bad pop music ( These Words, by Natasha Bedingfield is a recent earworm).

My hidden talents: Constructing things out of little bits of scrap, making a mean key lime pie, my outstanding long-term memory, and terrorizing my housemate’s cat.

Favorite restaurant in Amherst/Northampton: Paul and Elizabeth's.

Favorite places to spend time in Amherst/Northampton: Helen Hills Chapel on the Smith College campus, any swimming hole.

The one thing I want to accomplish in my lifetime: Is it too late to be recruited as a sleeper agent of some sort?

Three things I would want with me if I was stranded on a desert island: A good friend, my copy of The Sacred Harp , and a comb.

A random fact about me: I didn't lose my first tooth until I was in the second grade. In first grade, there was a chart on the wall of our classroom where each kid who lost a tooth would get a sticker next to his name. My name was the only one with no stickers come June.