从一开始就通过雪莉·奇泽姆生活学习社区建立联系

当Qiana Pierre开始寻找大学时，她并不知道Mount Holyoke. The Posse Scholar 她只知道她不想成为母亲的负担，她想去一所有强大社区的学校.

当她在面试波塞奖学金的过程中，她从她的导师那里得知了霍利奥克山大学. “She told me about Mount Holyoke, and she was like, ‘You know, I think this is a good fit for you,’” Pierre said. “So when I got the call that I received my scholarship, that I was selected to be a part of my Posse, I was super happy, but I was also like, ‘I don’t know what Mount Holyoke is. I don’t know the place. I don’t really know what I'm getting myself into.“但我确实知道，我对自己承诺过，要走出自己的小圈子，确保自己的经济状况得到保障。.”

And in the last four years, Pierre — who is majoring in computer science and minoring in Africana studies 她已经走出了自己的圈子，参与了学院的许多项目.

“如果我没有去芒特霍利奥克，我可能不会主修计算机科学. The small classes really gave me a chance to shine.”

她参与了第一个项目，这是由于她在周末访问被录取的学生时对霍利奥克山大学的反应. 皮埃尔说:“当我来到校园时，我不想撒谎——我很担心。. “I just felt out of place. … I’m not saying I wouldn’t thrive in it, 但我只是觉得没有一个人长得像我, if I’m being quite honest.”

It was important for Pierre, who’s Haitian, to have a strong support network, 尤其是因为她从小就生活在多样性和不同语言的环境中, 她的家乡迈阿密的大多数朋友都不像她去上大学那样长途跋涉. Her Posse mentor offered some advice: Why not join the Shirley Chisholm Living-Learning Community? 社区住宅楼层是为支持非洲裔学生而设计的, 那些认同散居非洲人的人，或者那些希望与散居非洲人的文化建立联系的人.

皮埃尔当时遇到的其他高年级和低年级学生也鼓励她, Pierre said, and were sweet with their tips and questions. “Why are you coming here? You know, you’re going to like it. Definitely sign up to live in the Shirley. 这些是你应该参与的团体，”皮埃尔回忆起她的谈话时说.

She followed their advice, and while living in the Shirley, 皮埃尔与学生们建立了联系，她认为如果不是这样，她在校园里是找不到的, including people from different class years. 尽管COVID-19大流行的爆发让她回到了迈阿密的家, once she returned to campus her junior year, 皮埃尔开始更多地参与霍利奥克山的学生团体.

She’s a member of MHACASA, 霍利奥克山非洲和加勒比学生协会, and APAU, the Mount Holyoke Association of Pan-African Unity. And during her third year at the College, 她还加入了Delta Sigma Theta姐妹会的全市分会, Incorporated, 这是一个历史上专注于服务的非裔美国人联谊会, sisterhood and social action, 其成员还包括附近史密斯学院的学生, University of Massachusetts, 美国国际学院和韦斯特菲尔德州立大学.

“加入这些组织是我在霍利奥克山大学的旅程和经历的一部分，也是我的亮点之一,” Pierre said. “我遇到了一些很棒的人，我仍然会向他们寻求友谊, 我也遇到了一些年纪更小的低年级学生，我觉得他们一定会在接手和继承学校遗产方面做得很出色.”

Being a part of these Black identity groups on campus, 皮埃尔也能够提高她的领导能力. She is currently vice president of her sorority, 以及MHACASA的加勒比联合主席和APAU的社区服务协调员. 对她来说，一个特别的亮点是她与其他五个学生组织合作，帮助领导了APAU的必需品运动. 她说，他们仅在经济捐款方面就筹集了900多美元，并能够将这笔钱捐给 MERCYhouse.

“I’m really, 真的很自豪，因为有时候我觉得在霍利奥克山, we live in this little bubble, 我们没有意识到，我们有一个外部社区可以使用我们的帮助，或者利用我们可以获得的技能和资源,” Pierre said. “让其他霍利奥克山大学的学生参与进来对我来说非常重要，因为我是社区服务的大力倡导者.”

On top of her community service and extracurriculars, 皮埃尔在学业上也很有动力，她认为霍利奥克山大学的支持环境对她的课堂学习有帮助. 皮埃尔自称是一个宅男，他知道她对计算机和科技感兴趣. 但她也知道自己选择的专业——计算机科学(CS)——很难坚持下去.

“When I talk to other folks and they ask why CS, I always tell them that if I did not go to Mount Holyoke, I probably wouldn’t have majored in CS,” Pierre said. “这真的是因为我在课堂上得到了很多支持. I was also able to beat imposter syndrome. The small classes really gave me a chance to shine.”

To prevent herself from burning out, 从大一开始，皮埃尔就开始参加专业以外的舞蹈和非洲研究课程. She enjoyed giving her brain a much-needed break from CS. “So I just kept doing that since I started, 然后我在大四的时候回头看，意识到我有足够的学分来辅修非洲研究.”

She was thrilled to qualify for the minor, which, in hindsight, she realized she had wanted all along. “I am a firm believer that what’s for me will come to me,” said Pierre, 谁希望最终致力于用户体验和用户界面，使技术更容易获得. “我一直在尽我最大的努力，并确保我主动去做需要完成的事情.”