You know you’re a Mount Holyoke student when, as the spring semester nears to a close, you start getting excited for Pangynaskeia Day. By putting it on your calendar. Mentioning it on social media. Hoping for sunny skies and warm temps. Digging out a favorite lawn blanket. All perhaps to the initial puzzlement of those beyond the College’s gates.

“What’s … that? What do you mean? Where are you going?” asks your younger sibling or high school friend or parent.

“Oh, it’s just a spring thing!” you reply with a smile. That smile of knowing that at Mount Holyoke, a bevy of fascinating and slightly curious traditions continues with reckless abandon.

And so it begins: your story, your quest, your journey.

Propelled and amplified by our global community.
A sensational, all-senses-activated community.
An inclusive, forward-looking community steeped in tradition.

In February 2017, you may have spotted members of the Mount Holyoke College rowing team erging for 12 hours in Blanchard Campus Center. We’ll repeat again for emphasis: erging for 12 hours. Their goal was to row 400,000 meters — and to raise funds for both Neighbors Helping Neighbors, a South Hadley food bank, and their team’s March training trip to Clemson, South Carolina. They even offered free rowing lessons to other students.

In January 2017, the prestigious American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, comprised of dancers ages 16 – 20, came to perform at Mount Holyoke. In addition to performing three shows that included U.S. and world premieres, the company also held a master class for advanced Mount Holyoke dancers.

Sometimes first impressions say it all.

“The first thing that struck me was the community. The people you meet here are going to be life-changing.”

“I came for accepted-students weekend. I was so excited to be in a place where finally it was fun to love school.”

Students come to Mount Holyoke for the inclusive global community. For the love of amazing classes, conversations, opportunities and empowerment. For the company of seriously surprising and inspiring peers who seek to redefine frontiers of every field imaginable. 

See how current students, in this video produced for newly accepted applicants to the class of 2021, express why they came to Mount Holyoke — and what sets the MHC experience apart.

Watch the video.