Sela Safo ’28: Skidmore has let me try ‘anything and everything I want to do’

Sela Safo ’28 is a resident assistant, a peer mentor for the First-Year Experience (FYE) program, and a peer health educator (PHE), to name just a few of her roles on campus.  

But the opportunities she has pursued already — in just the first half of her time at Skidmore — don’t end there.

This past summer, Sela engaged in two experiences that helped shape her academic identity, mentorship philosophy, and confidence heading into junior year. 

First, she spent five weeks collaborating with Assistant Professor of Sociology Rebecca Gleit — through the College’s Faculty-Student Summer Research Program — on an ethnographic study of how high school administrators respond to sexual violence cases. Sela, a sociology and international affairs double major with an intergroup relations minor, spent much of that time co-authoring a paper with Gleit after being introduced to the data during the prior fall semester. 

“I’m a peer health educator on campus, and I work with the Health Equity and Access Committee. It was interesting to be able to look at the topic academically and to see actual research being done on this,” Sela reflects. 

She then spent the following five weeks as a first-time summer teaching assistant in the Opportunity Program (OP), supporting Sociology 101. Working closely with Associate Professor of Sociology and Associate Director of Intergroup Relations Jennifer Mueller, she facilitated classroom engagement, co-designed activities, and led evening tutoring sessions for OP scholars. 

“The incoming students are so wonderful and so smart — they come to class, are engaged, and are able to look at the issues in such a personal manner to them, especially issues of race, class, and gender,” Sela says. “From this experience, I definitely have a huge appreciation for the Opportunity Program and all the work they do. I think these first five weeks really do a good job of getting students acclimated to Skidmore and to college life in general.” 

As she got ready to step into her peer mentor role for FYE and her resident assistant position this fall, she found the summer experience had been great preparation. “It was very helpful in allowing me to see how I can be an aid to the incoming first-years and how my experiences can help me guide them in their journey at Skidmore.” 

Sela also loved staying in Saratoga Springs over the summer. Throughout the 10 weeks, she even found time to learn how to roller skate.

During the summer between her first and sophomore years, Sela participated in a community health internship at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, New York — an opportunity made possible through Skidmore’s Summer Experience Fund (SEF), a signature program of the Zankel Experience Network (ZEN). Through the internship, she worked with a team of health experts, including doctors and social workers. Among other endeavors, she brought public health programming into the local community and contributed to a community project centered on accessibility. 

“There are a lot of systemic barriers that impact minorities and marginalized peoples’ ability to access healthcare,” she notes. “This experience amplified what I was learning in classes and taught me that I could really apply what I had been learning in school in my professional career.” 

Sela is currently working with Assistant Professor of International Affairs Rachel Cantave as a peer mentor supporting Cantave’s Scribner Seminar on Brazilian culture, Brasilidade. Sela plans to study abroad in Brazil in the spring semester and has an interest in global health. 

As she thinks about all the experiences she’s been able to access at Skidmore — and the ones that still await in the second half of her undergraduate career — she feels contented. 

“The OP students have asked me a lot of questions that have made me really reflect on my experience here, and the question they ask frequently is, ‘Do you think you made the right choice with Skidmore?’ And after two years here, I can definitely say I made the right choice. Skidmore has given me the opportunity to try anything and everything I want to do, and to be as involved as I want to be in this community.”