XIAO SITU, a top student at Laguardia High School of Music and Art in New York City, had never heard of Vassar, but she applied on the advice of her guidance counselor. She visited all the other schools she got into, but not Vassar. "I didn't really think that I would end up here, but I did. And it turned out to be the right choice." What tipped the scales? For Xiao, it was the Vassar library. Actually, not even the library, but the big poster of the library included in the package with her acceptance letter. "It was gut instinct. I saw the library, and that just did it. All the other reasons came after it."
You were a studio art major in high school. When did you decide to switch to art history?
My senior year, all studio art majors were required to take art history. While I was in that class, I realized I was spending hours and hours on the homework, not because I had to, but because I really liked it. I'd read the assignments over and over and take the time to really absorb the material, and I'd spend all my free time doing thumbnail sketches of the works we were studying. I realized that art history incorporates almost everything I like--reading, writing, research. And art!
You’re writing your senior thesis on Edward Hopper. Are you particularly interested in American art?
I am. The Hudson Valley is so beautiful. This is where the first American art movement originated, the Hudson River School. A sense of place is so important. Something about being in the country of the artist you’re studying makes it so much more vivid. I don’t know how to explain it, but it meant a lot to me that this is where it happened, and that I was here.
Looking back over your four years at Vassar, what stands out as particularly important?
I would say that the most important thing would have to be my Student Fellow Group from freshman year. Sometimes, over the years, your Student Fellow Group breaks apart and you're left with a couple of people that you've known since your first day at Vassar. But my Student Fellow Group has stuck together. They’re the best friends I’ve ever made in my entire life. It's amazing because we are really very different people. We also have friendships outside of our group, but they are really the backbone of my experience here.
What was your first day at Vassar like?
Embarrassing. My parents don't have a car. At the time, we lived in an apartment building, and the guy who lived above us worked for a tour bus company. So we just piled all of my stuff in the tour bus, and everyone came. My cousins came, my aunt and uncle came, my mom and my dad and my brother, and the guy who drove us. So we drove through Main Gate, and I was really mortified. I wished we had just hired a U-Haul or something like that. But that was the way it had to be done. Later, my roommate told me that when she saw me come out of that tour bus, she thought I was the richest person at Vassar. Who would have enough money to hire a tour bus to bring all her stuff, with all those people? But the good part was, after I did everything I had to do, checking in, I got back to my room, and my family had already set everything up. It was really great, actually.
Tell me about your freshman year.
My first semester was very, very difficult. I was very homesick. And I was wondering, am I cut out for this school? I was used to getting very good grades, and when I got my first paper back, I was like, oh, my career is over! I can't do this! I was actually thinking of transferring out. I had all of the forms. My Student Fellow, Becky Weldon--she was totally fine. She said, if this is what you want to do, okay...but maybe you should wait it out a little. And I did, and it turned out fine.
So the next year, you decided to become a Student Fellow yourself. What was that like?
It was like being given a whole new batch of friends. It's great to see how the process works. At the beginning, your fellowees come to you all the time for advice and ask a lot of questions, and you're always together. And then, as the year goes by, you see how they grow, and how they find their own place at Vassar. I'm still really good friends with my fellowees.