Saydie Grossman ’26

When Saydie Grossman ​​’26 was considering colleges, she worried that, wherever she went, her fellow students would be too focused on academics to enjoy activities outside of class.

Then she found Wesleyan.

“People are so thoughtful about their extracurriculars,” she says.

Grossman, for instance, is in two a cappella groups and has performed in several student theater performances. In one show, Falsettos, she was part of a seven-member cast supported by a 40-person production crew.

“It was a huge undertaking,​ and we weren’t doing it for pay or credit​​​​​,” she says. “We got so close as a cast and team.”

Earlier this year, as part of the a cappella group Triple Major, Grossman won outstanding soloist in the semi-finals of the Varsity Vocals International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella. She also performs with Notably Sharp, which describes itself as the “best-dressed” a cappella ensemble on campus.

“It’s such a home,” she says. “I feel like my a cappella groups are my family on this campus.”

Inside the classroom, Grossman is earning a double major in theatre and philosophy. Some of her favorite classes have been with Professor Nicholas Whittaker, including one on Black horror films and another on the critical philosophy of race.

“​Professor Whittaker​ really inspired me not only in philosophy but in how I view the world​,” she says. “I learned​ that acknowledging—and having the courage to ​​​​acknowledge—myself as a valuable thinker is so important, not just in philosophy but in anything​​ I do​.​​”​ ​​​ ​

Grossman says all her professors have challenged and supported her. At a recent audition in Manhattan, she channeled the direction of Professor Maria-Christina Oliveras who in class called on her to “stand on a chair in the middle of the classroom and scream my song out.”

In part because of Wesleyan, Grossman says, “I feel so much more myself now. This creative space, ​​​​paired with support from professors and other students, has given me the structure and path to figure out who I am and what I want and allow me to grow.”