On my recent visit to Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, I learned that Mount Holyoke was the first of the 7 Sisters, a cluster of elite women's colleges. Today, students at Mount Holyoke are female, transgender or non-binary. In a hallway of portraits of many distinguished alumnae, I was awed by their accomplishments, but I must confess that I was most impressed that Emily Dickinson went to Mount Holyoke! So did Virginia Apgar, who went on to study medicine and develop the newborn screening in the 1950's that is still used around the world today. Not to mention the first woman in the presidential cabinet and the first woman producer to win an Oscar. So Mount Holyoke has been producing incredibly bright and strong women for some time! Mount Holyoke is rated number one by the Princeton Review for LGBTQ students and, in fact, they have a special lavender ceremony at graduation for queer students. I'm told it's very beautiful. For all students, there are 7 distribution requirements, one in each academic area. That's not a lot. However, 8 gym classes are required for graduation. There's a long history at Mount Holyoke of strong bodies and strong minds! This requirement can be met in many ways, including mindfulness or yoga classes, weight training, dance or horseback riding. In fact, for the rather accomplished riders, Mount Holyoke has a nationally ranked equestrian team. Getting back to academics, here's an interesting fact: Mount Holyoke has sent more women on to earn a doctorate in the sciences over the last 50 years than any other college in the US. How cool is that? In fact, almost 80% of Mount Holyoke alumnae go on to pursue an advanced degree of some kind. Mount Holyoke also guarantees a paid internship for every student, with a fund to support that. So whether graduate school or a career is in your future, Mount Holyoke College may be a great place to start your journey.