Photo by Quill Nishi-Leonard ’27
Mount Holyoke News interviewed Rome Irelles, Cece Lubin, Victor McCarthy, Madeline Hutz, & Kairi Harness to learn what they wish they had known before they started their journey at MHC.
By Jo Elliott ’28
NEWS EDITOR
Aug. 31 marked the first day that first-year students arrived to finally experience Mount Holyoke and its annual traditions such as the Honor Code ceremony, M&Cs, Convocation and many more. By the end of Orientation, the first years were finally ready to face the beginning of their academic journey.
Mount Holyoke News interviewed some upperclassmen who wanted to impart words of wisdom and advice to the new first years. Their advice covers everything from academics and dorm life to extracurricular activities and friendships,
When asked about what they wish they had known before coming to the College, Rome Irelles ’27 said, “I wish I knew more about financial aid. I didn’t really have any knowledge of financial aid … I wish I had known more about it because it would have made everything easier to manage.” Cece Lubin ’28 added, “I wish I knew … who specifically to go to for financial aid resources as far as study abroad and trying to get a better understanding of your financial aid breakdown.”
Victor McCarthy ’28 spoke about the living conditions of campus in the dorms: “Some are on the newer end, some are older. Just kind of be aware of them when you’re going into it.” Specifically, Madeline Hutz ’28 suggested “not [to] expect your dorm to have a communal fridge that you can put your stuff in. Some of them will have kitchens. Some of them will not, and the standards for each of them kind of … shifts.”
Speaking about study habits, Kairi Harness ’28 stated, “When you and your roommate have different study habits [it] can really affect your relationship with your roommate and how you study.”
Cece Lubin ’28 said the “ best study habits are to go to office hours and to meet up with friends within your same learned subject. Even meeting with potentially an upperclassman or someone who’s taken the same professor really does count for something, and you can get a better understanding of what the professor is expecting.”
Similarly, Irelles said, “Definitely go to office hours, TA hours and [going] with friends too can be really helpful. Sometimes when you’re studying by yourself, you’re not really focused on studying, but when you’re in a group environment, it helps because everyone else is studying. So I feel like you lock in because [your] friend is [also] studying this. I would also say … make friends in classes so that way you guys can study together.”
Moving onto major-specific advice, Lubin ’28 said, “Be sure that you know your own personal interests, like how interested are you in social sciences really? But also know your bandwidth, I know that I may not have the bandwidth for a 5 hour lab. With pre-med you will be taking labs that are more than 3 hours. So you really have to do a self assessment and judge whether or not that’s good for you.”
Irelles added, “Basically figure out what you want to do at the end of the day.”
Harness noted, “Keeping a spreadsheet of your major requirements and your minor requirements and anything else you plan to do is really beneficial, especially if you keep a track of classes you’re interested in.” “It’s okay to change your major or switch your minor, all that’s okay. I came into college doing philosophy, then I switched to international relations, and now I’m an international relations and education [major]. It’s okay to switch. It’s okay to change,” Harness stated.
Some final parting words of wisdom come from Hutz, who stated, “While it’s hard to find friends, you will find friends. You’ll find your people, and make sure to really cherish those people and hold on to those friendships.”
Karishma Ramkarran ’27 contributed fact-checking.