<p>For all of you out there who are attending, or have attended, MHC, please offer "words of wisdom" to the class of 2013. You know, tips and information that will make for a better experience, or things you wish someone would have told you as you entered your freshman year.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Ah, that’s a tough question. Here are some ideas I have specifically for academics:</p>
<p>– Don’t try to do all your distribution requirements in your first year. It’s better to take classes you like, and find the subject you want to major in. You want more time to connect with your department, and it’s a lot harder to get your major and minor requirements done if you wait until the last few semesters to take them. If your goal is to get distributions “out of the way”, then you have the wrong attitude. </p>
<p>– On the other hand, if there is a subject you anticipate having difficulty in, don’t leave it until your senior year. If you don’t like math now, you won’t like it any more after four years with no practice. If you think you will have difficulty with lab science, I very highly recommend taking a first-year seminar course that fills the lab requirement, rather than toughing it out in the general intro course. The FYS courses will be a lot smaller, and you won’t have the option to take them later if you change your mind.</p>
<p>I’m finishing up my first year here, and I would just say come in with a positive attitude and realize that there will be so many people here ready to help. It’s a bit overwhelming at first, but you will have an endless support system from your professors to current students. It’s as warm and community-oriented as they claim I promise!</p>
<p>First of all, congratulations on your wisdom in selecting Mount Holyoke and having it choose you! You are in for a wonderful four years – but it’s not just a four year gig. You probably will love your College as much as those of us who went before you. It is a national treasure – almost unique. Your relationship with Mount Holyoke will last for your entire life and supply you with endless friends and wonderful connections.</p>
<p>Looking back over my over forty year relationship with Mount Holyoke, I feel that my life has been enriched by having been turned on to art history as a first year student. Even though I was a political junkie and majored in political science, I just loved the 5 art history courses I took and never go travelling without checking out the local museum. I am now on the Mount Holyoke College Art Advisory Board which is great fun and an opportunity to meet and work with museum professionals (many of whom are alumnae) even though I am an attorney. So, lesson number one is find something in the arts or literature to enrich your curricular experience even if you are a science or history major.</p>
<p>Second lesson is spend a lot of time getting to know your classmates who turn out to be amazing women with whom you will be friends for your entire life. My classmates have made history, won prizes, and about 80% plus have advanced degrees.</p>
<p>Third lesson is to seek out and take classes with the professors who are highly regarded and challenging. You will make friends with your professors because the school is a small college. I still regret not having taken the Russian history class that everyone fought and died to get into with a professor who passed away a few years ago. By all means take history with Joe Ellis who writes Pulitzer Prize winning biographies of the founding fathers, for example.</p>
<p>The fourth lesson is to be sure to try something that you think you’re likely to not do well at but you will not have another opportunity to try. So, try out for the rock band, the singing group, the play at the theater, the athletic team you weren’t so hot at in high school. Mount Holyoke is a very supportive place and you will not be laughed off the ball field or thrown out of school for punching holes in the golf course (trust me, I know).</p>
<p>But the overarching theme is – enjoy every minute at this wonderful college. Your four years will be over in what seems like a very short time. It is incredibly beautiful. I was just there a few weeks ago and fell in love all over again. Make it your own and take care of the view of my beloved waterfall – the place I always come home to when I’m there. And leave something of yourself behind so that you return again and again.</p>