It seems that students come to Mount Holyoke for the academics and stay for the community. Women who come here either quickly discover that they hate it and transfer out, or fall in love with the school and become unable to imagine going anywhere else. The overall sense students have about the College is that it’s more than just a school, and it’s more than a place to study for four years, get your diploma, and be set free—MHC becomes a second home. Its close-knit environment allows students to explore their own boundaries in safety, perhaps try on a few lifestyle changes, and maybe even find a few that stick. You will undoubtedly be exposed to new influences during your time here, as you would at almost any college, but here, you won’t be afraid to call some of those new influences your friends—especially the ones who scared you at first.
Part of what’s so wonderful and unique about this school is the sense that students are really cared about as individuals. Sure, it’s an institution, and sure, there are the occasional oversights where the Registrar forgets to record a grade or some such thing, but most faculty and staff are exceedingly helpful and willing to assist you with whatever difficulty you may be facing, whether it’s a decision to apply to grad school now or later or a mistake in your transcript. The atmosphere of care is contagious—new students quickly catch it from older students, and so the tradition lives on. Things are changing for this institution, as it strives to keep up with modern times and struggles with budget cuts resulting from a bad economy, but it still remains the school generations of women have known and loved, and alumnae still keep coming back to visit and reminisce.