News & Events
All’s Fair at the Senior Fair
By Samantha Silver ’10
With graduation just a couple months away, the class of 2008 is starting to realize that the real world awaits. But within that world, as hopeful seniors learned at this year’s Senior Fair, exists a very real community of MHC alumnae who started their journey just years before—and who are ready to embrace new graduates with open arms.
On a chilly Sunday the first weekend in March, 166 seniors trooped to the Willits-Hallowell Center to meet with alumnae from a variety of areas and career fields, which ranged from medicine to museums to academia. The sun was shining outside over the melting snow, but everything seniors needed was inside at Willits, with such large questions looming over their heads such as “What do I do with my major?” and “Go to grad school or get a job?” Nearly sixty alumnae were waiting to answer questions and provide assistance in summer internships, housing, and even possible job opportunities.
Other resources available for seniors included a “résumé critiquing” table, where alumnae gave students insightful feedback on résumés and cover letters; a workshop on financial planning; and information about ways to volunteer after graduation. Alumnae clubs were represented from regions including New York, Northern California, and Washington D.C. Representing Northern California for her second Senior Fair as an alumna, Sara McLaughlin ’00 said, “I really wish we had this event when I was a senior. It would have been nice to get connected to the alumnae network where we were going, because I had to investigate that on my own.”
Seniors had plenty to investigate at this year’s Senior Fair. With a shiny new portfolio inscribed with the College logo (a gift from the Alumnae Association) and resume in one hand, and a chocolate-chip cookie in the other, students bustled between tables hoping to make some sense of the life they will have when they graduate.
For religion major Caitlin Orr ’08, she admits, “It’s vague what to do with a religion major. But I feel much more optimistic about my studies now. I didn’t know I could get my Ph.D. without a Master’s or how to go about applying successfully until Senior Fair.” For art history major Beth Hankes ’08, on the other hand, the fair helped her think about a new direction after she’d decided against a career in the art and museum field. “I saw on the [event] Web site that someone was going to be here from Condé Nast magazines,” she said. “It’s a new thought, going into marketing, and I wanted to look into that.” Naa Mettle-Nunoo ’08 was able to pick up advice to help her in achieving her career goals, which definitely include graduate school. “I never thought to use LifeNet [the Alumnae Association’s online career networking tool] to look up alums and ask about grad school options,” she confessed. Carin Zinter ’95, senior director of operations for the New England region of the Princeton Review, had additional advice for Mettle-Nunoo: “If you’re really interested in going to grad school you need to do the time and do the research and make sure you think through the process.”
It seemed that for every question asked that day, seniors received at least two pieces of advice from various alums wanting to give a helping hand. But for Zinter, the pleasure was all hers. “How could you not want to come back to Mount Holyoke?” she smiled. And so she does come back, many times a year, giving so much advice and support to students that she has now become a leading resource for the Alumnae Association. Diana Coyne ’89, another alumna returning again for Senior Fair, had this to offer: “You need to be able to adapt to change. Change is something you have to get used to. It’s the only thing that will be constant.” In addition to change, though, there is something else that will be constant for those about to leave Mount Holyoke in May—and that is the strong support of the alumnae community. As Hilary Salmon ’03 put it: “Be a little more shameless. People want to help you.”
