 My name is Sophia Smith. She, her pronouns. I'm a senior here at Mount Holyoke from Marblehead, Massachusetts, double majoring in biological sciences and studio art. So I have two major interests. I'm really interested in vertebrate anatomy, so that is biology, and a digital art animation at InkWash, which is art studio. So I chose Mount Holyoke because it's a liberal arts education where I don't have to sacrifice one in order to pursue the other. I really love the biological sciences because the labs are just so incredibly hands-on and in-depth. Not only within the courses, but also when you just work individually with professors. I've been able to participate in these really amazing labs. That gave me opportunities to get hands-on experience within the sciences, beyond what I ever thought I'd be able to do, especially before going into the workforce. And then also through the art studio, it's this really amazing, almost sub-community within the wider Mount Holyoke community. So I get to pursue all of these labs and all these opportunities within science. And then through art, I get to build my practice with people who I've established these amazing relationships with. Something that was really important to me when choosing a college was somewhere where I felt like I could belong. And as soon as I came onto Mount Holyoke's campus, even just as a prospective student, I felt that sense of respect and belonging. As long as you are happy with who you are and how you represent yourself, everybody on campus is going to support you and be just as happy for you. You can just be free to be yourself without any identity holding you back. All my life, I was told as a woman, I might have a sort of judgment put on me just because of my gender identity within the biological sciences, within the STEM fields in general. At Mount Holyoke, we're able to be uplifted in giving this very strong foundation and this roots to be confident in ourselves and in our abilities. So that way when we are questioned just based on something arbitrary like our gender out in the wider world, we can say, no, I know what I'm doing, I'm confident in my education and my abilities. So that's something that's been very important to me being a Mount Holyoke student.