One thing I learned at Mount Holyoke? Include a fun fact when you introduce yourself. So, here goes: I love quotes. Each semester, I decorated an inspiration wall with sticky notes and posters. One of my favorites is by Nelson Mandela: “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave [wo]man is not [s]he who does not feel afraid, but [s]he who conquers that fear.”

Riding at Mount Holyoke is one of the best decisions you’ll ever make. It’s a community. It’s friends. It’s a team. And most importantly, it’s pursuing a passion alongside an inspiring group of people who share your love for horses. Here are 12 more reasons why.

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.

As most players know, there comes a moment when you realize a game is lost. When you realize that time is not on your side—and that no last-ditch effort can close the gap.

Saturday, November 21, MHC rugby played for the 2016 New England Collegiate Rugby Cup for the first time in over a decade. And that moment came to me with about 15 minutes left on the clock, when we were down 30 to 7. We still continued to give it everything we had, but it was too late.