Exploring new horizons as a springie

All college students remember that moment they received the acceptance letter from their dream school, but I’d argue that springies remember this moment especially well. That’s because, in a moment that normally seems so binary, Mount Holyoke College springies are faced with a more complex decision: whether to start college on a different path or to go to another school. Along with all other enrolled springies, I chose the former, although, I’ll admit it, it wasn’t an easy choice.

I always imagined my college experience the conventional way. I would start in the fall after graduation, go to school for four years for my degree and get further education for my dream job. As you can imagine, my spring acceptance letter threw a wrench in my plans. Sure, I could go to another school, but no school I found had the same sense of community and tradition that Mount Holyoke possessed.

There wasn’t much guidance on what I should do in the fall, and I’d never had so much free time to fill, so I chose things that made me happy. I learned American Sign Language, I sewed, and I babysat to save up some money for school.

Once I got to Mount Holyoke, everything started to click into place. The small group of springies immediately bonded through our experiences of starting later in the year and sharing full days of orientation. We easily continued our friendships in our first-year seminars (FYSEMs), where we had great discussions and kept our conversations going through lunch. My FYSEM holds a special place in my heart because, without it, I would not be in my current classes. Since the springies are such a small cohort, we only had three FYSEM options. That may sound limiting, but it forced me out of my comfort zone into something I never thought I would like — computer science.

My FYSEM, Talking Robots, focused on human-robot interaction in sci-fi literature and real life. One of the books we read was “A Psalm for the Wild Built,” which explored a utopian world with wild, sentient robots and focused on self-discovery and life change. My class loved it, as the story was so fitting for our college experiences. The class also highlighted interdisciplinary uses of technology and made it more friendly to those of us without past knowledge. Before college, I was devoted to the humanities and social sciences and avoided most STEM classes. I’d always found them to be plagued with guys who taught themselves everything over the summer and bragged about it, hindering my chances of learning the material. But this class made me want to try it out, so I did!

This past fall, I took an introductory computer science class, and I had so much fun. The assignments were puzzles for me to solve, and any time I ran into difficulties, I could easily get support. It went so well that I’m taking a higher-level computer science class and calculus, which I would never have dreamed of taking in high school. These classes are such supportive spaces — an area where this college really shines.

Don’t get me wrong — I’m still a psychology major with a primary interest in social psychology and the humanities, but I’m also doing things I never would have imagined trying before now. I push myself to be in higher-level classes, such as a 300-level sociology class in my second semester, where I learned how to interview people and code qualitative data. I’m also involved in several clubs, including Model UN and Bellatrix. I have always loved Model UN and was excited to get more involved than I had been in high school. It’s a safe space on campus to debate trivial and serious issues, allowing people, such as myself, to form meaningful connections. Now, I’m on the board and help plan our debates and training. Bellatrix, on the other hand, is known for its nerdy movie nights, but I love its activities. My best Friday plans involve going to a Bellatrix craft or board game night. All of these spaces have allowed me to make even more friends and acquaintances.

If I could go back and talk to myself at the moment I first received my acceptance letter, I would tell myself that it was the right decision. It’s okay to do college a little bit differently and try new things, even if they are hard or scary. It is so cool to do things that you never thought you would and blow the mind of “past you.”