Mount Holyoke College

When I interviewed with Mount Holyoke College, the Associate Director of the Frances Perkins Scholar program, Nichole Reynolds, shared with me, “Attending this school can be a transformative experience if you allow it to be.” The words that she spoke were the guiding force behind the ways in which I approached my junior year. The 2016-2017 school year has been the most transformative year of my academic life thus far. Indeed, I stepped out of my cocoon and forced myself to stretch; no matter how uncomfortable or the amount of fear that I felt, I pushed towards new experiences that helped to construct the person I was becoming. First, after much consideration, I officially declared my self-design major in Black Geographies with the support of my academic advising team. Designing my own curriculum has empowered me to partake in interdisciplinary research, creating a hybrid of rich proficiencies that make me a sturdier and more attentive student. Also, my scholarly interests are intersectional in nature, therefore, having a cross-pollination of the multiple academic areas to which…

Mountain Day, Pangy Day, and Convocation are three of the most anticipated traditions in Mount Holyoke College; however, there is one tradition that no one knows until the middle of October, it is called Elfing. Elfing is a tradition between the first years and the sophomores. It has been around for more than fifty years. Elfing was not really called Elfing until the year of 1966 when the first years of that class said enough was enough; the class decided that instead of hazing the first years…

pot at the party; when I successfully persuade my sponsors to support our conference with free food; when I designed and uploaded my own advertisements online, and saw they were favored again and again; when my limited discount coupons were sold out during the pre-sale – I realized that my blueprint was actually coming true step-by-step and I felt excited about the unknown challenges. However, I’m also well aware that prospective business activities are not as easy as those practices I’ve…

On June 15, 2012, President Barack Obama passed an executive order, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), that helped to make it more possible for undocumented students to attend college. Since DACA has been passed, administration at colleges and universities have had differing approaches on how to support, or not, undocumented students attending their institution. However, there are still holes in the support for undocumented students in pursuing higher education. The purpose of this…

She graduated from Worcester’s Classical High School and enrolled in Mount Holyoke College to study chemistry and physics. In her senior year at she took a course on American economic history. This class impacted her life and her decision to do social work. Perkins learned of the poor working conditions women and children had in factories and wanted to make a change. She went on to get her masters in political science from Columbia University. Perkins received a teaching job in Chicago and this…

these jobs are that they lack stability, security, and they do not pay very well. A woman who does not work in this society is seen as a very lazy person even if their number one priority is to take care of their children. Sometimes people don’t have the education needed to have a great paying job. They lacked the “skills” that are needed for a high-end job. Discrimination still plays a huge role on this issue today. Women can be paid a lot less than a man and are not given the same benefits…

was in desperate need of mentorship and financial assistance when I first learned about the Bardwell Scholarship over 15 years ago. One of my mentors, Gaylord Bogguess introduced me to Hedy and I immediately felt a connection to her. At the same time, I was nervous because I am most certain I had the worst grades and GPA at Harold Washington College at the time. My first few attempts at HWC were catastrophic and I was not in the proper headspace to be a successful college student. My GPA had…

stifled. After high school, I felt that I needed time to determine my direction in education and in life before entering college; therefore, I worked until I was 20, when I began my studies at Nassau Community College (NCC). Although I enjoyed returning to an academic environment, I was still searching for my calling, and the extensive student population made it extremely difficult to obtain guidance from advisors or faculty. My experience at NCC was terminated abruptly when I badly broke my leg…

danger to others. The main people that get injured would be their guides, which most of the time would be Sherpas. Sherpas put themselves in danger each day to earn money to feed themselves or their family. In most cases, they risk too much and end up dead just to help other live their dream. That then leaves their family members with a loss and moring feelings. Sherpas dying is just one reason to why they should ban expeditions if the climbers are not experienced. Other reasons would be that,…

cheerily carrying three enormous photo albums, “I can’t believe you have so many pictures of you and Dad. There must be so many memories you two shared.” “Oh, thank you dear,” I said smiling. “Would you like to go through them with me?” I asked. Amelia eagerly agreed, and she sat at the foot of my bed flipping through the frail pages of the oldest photo album from around the late 1940s early 1950s. Amelia asked, “How did you meet Dad? Was it love at first sight?” I started telling her how I…