How did you decide on your major?
I thought that I wanted to do environmental studies for a while. Then over the summer I did the Semester at Sea program, which led me to coastal and marine sciences. But I thought that if I were to do both that and environmental science it would be too much on the science side of things, and I felt like I really needed to have an interdisciplinary education. I was randomly looking through a major list one day and found “Geography.” I clicked on it and the first thing it said was “Geography, the interdisciplinary major,” and I was like, “I think this is for me.” And then I found out that urban planning was under geography and that’s something I’m interested in.
Could you talk a bit about the architecture department?
Both the architecture major and minor have more freedom. It’s more like designing your own program, where you meet with your advisor and go through the classes. If there is a specific area that you really want to study, you look into that and create a program based around what you want. So I’m going to look at the environmental side of things, but also at architecture history because that is something that I’ve found I’m super interested in. And of course there is the design studio portion of it (studio courses, art history courses, and design courses) which has to be balanced out whether you are a major or a minor.
What’s your favorite course been so far at Mount Holyoke?
IDesign, a computer science course. I found out about it through my advisor. I went into it thinking that I wasn’t gonna like it, and that I would drop it, since I’d never done anything with computer science before. But there was a lot of crafting and hands-on technology use which was so cool and so new to me. It was the most hands-on that you could be. The professor is there to help, but you are doing a lot of it through trial and error. And there’s a lot of technology that you’re learning about as well. The year I took it, it was all centered around wearable technology, but I don’t know if it’s the same this semester.
What was an example of a project you did for IDesign?
My favorite project was one of the first ones that we did. It was to create a stuffed animal that used LEDs to create an open and a closed circuit. You had to have two pieces that would connect and when you touched them together, LED lights would turn on somewhere on the stuffed animal. I made myself a little bunny that when you clapped its hands together, its tail would light up. I still have that bunny sitting on my bed. I’m very proud of it.
What was the Semester at Sea program like?
Sea semester is a program that is run out of Woods Hole, MA. You go out on the ocean and learn to sail a tall ship while doing scientific research. I did the TransAtlantic Crossing program, which was an all majors program. We had a one week period where we were in classes on campus in Woods Hole and then we met the the SSV Corwith Cramer, a tall ships, at the dock in Woods Hole and sailed from Woods Hole to Cork, Ireland. It was super exciting. Looking back, I probably should have been a bit more scared than I was. I kind of went into it without thinking. But in the moment it was quite an adventure and it’s probably one of the best things that I’ve ever decided to do. We were out at sea for 28 days. I was part of a group that did a research project on microplastics along our track, which was really cool and also very sad (the ocean is very polluted).
What’s the last TV show you saw?
So I don’t actually watch a lot of TV. The most recent TV show that I’ve watched (I’m pretty embarrassed to say) is Faking It. I heard of it through a LGBT community online thing somewhere. It’s an MTV show and it’s based around a high school where being “weird” and different makes you cool, and the “normal” people are the outcasts. There are these two girls and they are outcasts and they decide that in order to gain popularity they will pretend to be lesbians in a relationship. Then it turns out that one of them actually starts having feelings and realizes that she is not straight. I’ve only watched the first few episodes, so I don’t know what happens beyond that. I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily a good TV show, I was just tired of watching TV shows without LGBT characters. And also, in the show, the girl that the other girl likes is straight, so I understand where she is coming from with liking a lot of straight girls.
What advice would you give to a first year at Mount Holyoke?
Get to know your academic advisor even if you don’t think you’ll keep them. My former academic advisor was really instrumental in me doing SEA semester as well choosing my major. She’s kind of like my mom at college. Definitely don’t pass up that opportunity because I think that each faculty member or advisor that you have has something very different to offer. I’m excited to get to know my new advisor!
What is your hometown like?
I consider myself from the hometown of West Barnstable, which is a village in the town of Barnstable. The village that I live in is more rural and farmland-y than a lot of the other villages are. It used to be an area with a lot of sheep farming. It’s pretty small and a lot of people know each other. We have a village store, which is where everyone gets their groceries, their paper, and their coffee in the morning. It’s just a really quaint, little area. It’s also very tourist economy-driven, because it’s part of Cape Cod. So it’s dead in the winter and crazy in the summer!
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