Vista • Fall 2010 • Volume 15 • Number 2

New Students
Meet the Class of 2014

Leah Hammond
Hometown: Boulder, Colorado
Likely Major: International Relations

Favorite quotation: “We don’t believe in innocent bystanders. Because if you see something and do nothing, then you are not innocent anymore.” —Preben Munch-Nielsen, Danish teenager who rescued thousands of Jews during WWII

Gap-year project: Seven months in Nicaragua with Empowerment International, an organization that works on removing barriers to education, and then a language-intensive program at Haifa University in Israel.

Languages: “English and Spanish. I’m trying to learn Hebrew right now, and then French is next. And then I would love to learn Arabic.”

On international relations: “When we’re talking about issues of oppression, you can’t resolve anything without communication, and the most basic form of communication is talking to people. You really need to be able to talk to people in their own terms—and to do that, you need to learn their language and their cultural context.”

Enrolled in: French, American Politics, the African Diaspora, and Climate Change

Why Mount Holyoke: “We were touring colleges in the area, and my mom wanted to look at Mount Holyoke, and I told her she was crazy, no way I would go to an all-girls school. And then I just fell in love with it. I could see myself thriving, and I loved the idea of being surrounded by 2,000 smart women—that just sounded really cool. It was the first school I looked at—and the only school I applied to.”

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Bella Masse
Hometown: Oakland, California
Likely major: Art History

Favorite treat at Masse’s, her parents’ Berkeley bakery: “I like the seasonal things, like the Mont Blanc, which has a hazelnut crust and baked meringue, ganache, whipped cream, and chestnut puree.”

Bakery lesson: The balance of creativity and discipline. “My mom’s really creative and visual, but then my dad’s a real taskmaster. So if I’m decorating cookies, I have to be able to sit down and do it from start to finish, rather than being distracted and moving on to something else.”

Artist’s statement: My hands are the handmaidens of a curious and creative mind. “I love working with my hands—to interact with the world on that level, working, making, and really seeing. Sewing, embroidering, fiber arts. Right now I’m trying to make a dress from this pattern from the 1840s.”

Volunteer work: Creative Growth Art Center, a studio for adult artists with disabilities. “I didn’t even realize it, but it turned out that I had this preconceived notion that I was there to help—but then it turned out to be the opposite. I was really there to learn.”

Dream job: “I love conservation and the preservation of all these historical things like textiles and paintings. I think I might want to do that in the future—conservation. It would incorporate so many of my interests.”

Five words to describe yourself: Inquisitive, visual, engaged, open, daydreaming.

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Mariyah J. Sabir
Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia
Likely major: “Neuroscience and behavior. The brain fascinates me and I am curious about why people act the way they do.”

Ultimate goal: “I want to be a physical therapist working in sports medicine. I’m very interested in kinesiology, which is the science of movement, and I’m hoping to take classes in that field at UMass.”

Stand-out experience: Junior Achievement. “Last year, I served as president of the company created by my JA team. In the process, I learned a lot about getting people to work together. I also networked with executives throughout Atlanta. This fall I’m planning to volunteer with JA in either Holyoke or Springfield.”

Recommended book: Black and White by Malorie Blackman. The book offers a different perspective on the civil rights movement. It really drew me in.

On my iPod: “I listen to all types of music, everything from rock to jazz to hip-hop to R&B. My favorite artist has been Usher; I really like his soul music.”

Why MHC? “Even though I’d finished my applications, my best friend convinced me to apply to MHC with her. We both were accepted and came to visit. I thought I had no interest in attending a women’s college so I regarded the trip as a little vacation. To my surprise, I immediately fell in love with MHC. My best friend ended up choosing a different college, but here I am!”

Lesson learned: “Never say never.”

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Carla Tamayo
Hometown: San Francisco, California
Likely major: “Unknown. I want to take advantage of the different classes offered and find what intrigues me. I’m open to everything.”

Passion: “Music—it’s been in me since the beginning. I sing and also play the violin. I love to perform and spent the past six years with the San Francisco Girls Chorus (SFGC). It was incredible and very intensive—at times, we practiced seven days a week. We worked hard and I’m really proud of what we accomplished.”

Chorus highlights: “We recorded our two-CD set, Heaven and Earth, last year at Skywalker Ranch. We also won three Grammys for our performance of Mahler’s 8th Symphony with the San Francisco Symphony.”

Singing with the SFGC at the Inauguration: “Words cannot describe the amount of pride and joy I feel about having sung at the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States. I was seated maybe 40 feet away from President Obama and the former presidents in attendance. Witnessing history with my very own eyes was something I’ll always remember. I’ve never felt such emotions.

The idea that I was there was to sing for the world was unbelievable, but it made me more conscious of the influence of music. It is almost as though I have been traveling from one world to another through music; being a normal teenage girl in one, and being part of something much larger than myself in the other.”

Crossing the continent: “Going from the West Coast to the East will be really different. I'm also leaving the city—and then there’s the weather. But it’s good. I want the changes that Mount Holyoke offers.”

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Hanna Wilkins
Hometown: North Port, Florida
Likely Major: Research Biology

Statement of purpose: “I have a really strong passion for conserving and preserving our natural world. It’s not just an interest—it’s more like a spiritual calling.”

Gap-year project: Internship at the Hacienda Baru National Wildlife Refuge in Costa Rica, studying white-faced capuchin monkeys. “I wanted to gain a more global perspective and learn Spanish and get hands-on experience in biology—and I just wanted to do something different. It was a real journey of self-discovery.”

Nickname: Bat Girl. “In high school I did two internships with a bat biologist, and I’m actually certified in bat rescue. So when there happened to be a downed bat at school one day, I knew just how to handle it, even though I’m a shy person. Bat Girl to the rescue!”

Most influential book: It’s a Jungle Up There: More Tales from the Treetops, by Margaret D. Lowman. “No one had ever really looked at the jungle canopy before, and it’s nicknamed The Eighth Continent because of the incredible biodiversity. And it’s a male-dominated field, so she’s really a pioneer. Oh, and also Jane Eyre.”

Animals worked with: Cats, dogs, horses, butterflies, umbrella cockatoos, shore birds, ferrets, deer, lemurs, monkeys.

Dream job: “To be a research biologist and write for National Geographic.”

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Imane Terhmina
Hometown:  Temara, Morocco
Likely (Double) Major: Biology and International Relations

Four ways to describe yourself: “I like challenges. Perseverance. I’m interested in a lot of really different things. And the last thing is that I love chocolate.”

Five languages you know: Arabic (Moroccan and Classical), French, English, Spanish, and Latin. “But my Spanish isn’t fluent, and it would be really useful for me to speak it fluently.”

Dream job: “I have two main interests. The first one is infectious diseases—I really want to do research in a field like that, maybe malaria. And the other thing is working to promote development among impoverished populations. I want to work for an NGO—or create my own!”

Favorite hobby: Mountain climbing. “It’s a relentless and continual surpassing of my limits and fears.”

Hardest climbs: Toubkal (4,167 meters) and Mgoun (4,071 meters)—the two highest peaks in Morocco.

Favorite thing about MHC: “The courses are definitely really, really challenging and really, really interesting. Professors are different from where I come from: here, they give you the tools, and then you have to think and struggle on your own; we’re really active, not passive. And the people are incredible and they all have such different stories and such different interests—and they’re all really good at what they do. I’m in a challenging environment, but it’s also supportive.”

Mount Holyoke College • Vista