Terri Butow

Student

“When you’re in a club at SMC, you learn how to make things happen. You work with other people and you become part of the school itself.”

Meet Terri Butow, president of the Anthropology Club. And hairdresser. And award-winning Corsair photographer. Who just came back from Africa, where she “snuck off to do some research.” And… well. Terri has a lot of stories to tell—a good skill to have for any anthropologist. Or hairdresser, for that matter.

“I took my first anthro class and realized that—after 13 years of doing hair—I was completely liberal and multi-cultural. I’d actually been a practicing cultural anthropologist,” she says with a laugh. “And somehow, all those years of work fit perfectly into what I’m doing now. SMC is such a welcoming place—with such an outreach to all people—that returning students, minorities, and even the homeless among us have a way to keep learning and get ahead. I look at all that’s going on here, and I think, ‘Wow! This is wonderful!’” But Terri’s greatest enthusiasm about SMC is reserved for Club Row.

“Last year I was in the Anthro Club; this year, I’m president. I really just started shooting pictures, and this year I’m the Corsair’s top photographer. I wanted a speaker for our club, but it didn’t work out,” she continues. “So I went to the African American Business Club, and now that person is going to speak there. There is so much interlinking activity in the clubs at SMC, and it’s important to learn the skills they teach: how to organize, do the paperwork, watch the financing. After two years of plugging into this kind of activity,” says Terri, “you’re going to develop a foundation and a sense of self that—no matter where you go for your last two years—you’ll never feel intimidated, and you’ll definitely flourish.”

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