Smith Childs is a senior from Atlanta, Georgia majoring in Spanish and Sociology and minoring in Linguistics. In addition to meeting the challenges of a double major and minor, Smith has embodied the spirit of the Furman Advantage by pursuing research, study away, community engagement, and internship opportunities during her four years at Furman.

Beginning in her freshman year, Smith has been applying her language skills weekly as a volunteer mentor to under-resourced children and students through Neighborhood Focus, contributing a valuable service to the local community.

In the fall of 2018, Smith participated in the Madrid, Spain study-away program, an excellent complement to her high school experiences living in Chile and Peru that further enhanced her linguistic abilities and global competence.

Since the spring of 2019, Smith has been the lead student researcher on Professor Jeff Michno’s project analyzing the effects of study-away experiences on participant cultural and linguistic competence. The two aim to publish preliminary results next year. This research experience comes on the heels of a summer research assistantship in Sociology in the summer of 2018! Smith earned support for both assistantships through Furman’s Office of Undergraduate Research.

Most recently, Smith utilized her language and cultural skills during a summer 2019 internship at the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., an opportunity supported by a Furman summer intern fellowship.

In the immediate future, Smith has her sights set on an English Teaching Assistant position with Fulbright in Colombia, after which she hopes to do advocacy/non-profit work on the U.S./Mexico Border. Eventually, she aims to pursue a doctoral degree in Hispanic Linguistics.

In her own words...

"Because of the Modern Languages and Literature Department, I have mentored and tutored Latinx kids in the area weekly, studied away in Spain for the semester, and developed my passion for Hispanic linguistics through individual research with Dr. Jeff Michno. This MLL education has provided me with experiences, direction, and incredible mentors that will continue to carve my path. I know that I am prepared to succeed in whatever I choose to do after Furman because of my professors and experiences in the MLL department."