 I'm Ayanna Aline. I use she, her pronouns. I'm a senior here at Mount Holyoke College. I'm an environmental studies and gender studies double major and I'm from Bridgetown, Barbados. I chose Mount Holyoke because of its genuine commitment to fostering diversity and inclusion. As an international student coming from a super diverse high school, I really wanted a place where I would feel comfortable and supported and Mount Holyoke checked all those boxes for me. I think there's power in collaboration and I truly get that sense here. As a double gender studies and environmental studies major, I love the ways that the two fields speak to each other and I especially appreciate the way every single one of my professors is really excited for me to talk about those connections, to find them for me and to allow me to chart my own path. It's been an amazing experience to learn things I never knew and to also have my professors make an effort to include voices from the Caribbean to have that in this little town in South Hadley has been amazing. I felt truly at home at Mount Holyoke on the volleyball court. It wasn't a big game or anything specific. We were just running through a drill that I was having a hard time grasping and when I finally got it, the look of joy on all of my teammates' faces, everybody was so excited for me and that's the moment I felt like I was in a community that truly wanted the best for me and I felt the same and it just clicked.