A First-Year Buddy Turned Forever Friend
150th Anniversary
On first day at Smith, Franny Higgins Henkel ’03 met Nisha Bhatt ’03; they've been friends since.
Illustration by Shawn Prairie
Published November 10, 2025
On a hot September day in 1999, I dutifully waited for my laptop in a sitting room of King/Scales with other quad first-years. One of those students was Nisha Bhatt ’03—my first-day friend. Neither of us remember what we talked about or even much of the day, but the friendship that developed during our time at Smith has been steadfast through many stages of adulthood. Though we live far apart now, we continue to talk almost daily. I had no idea in those first days on campus that the relationship and community we would build would be so transformative.
—Franny Higgins Henkel ’03
