������ý

After Mount Holyoke College’s Mountain Day this past September, Mars Bickford ’25 smiled as they looked out at the group of friends assembled on their residence-hall balcony. It was a gorgeous day, and after summiting, they’d enjoyed Italian ices together before gathering at Bickford’s room in Dickinson House. As a first-year student, Bickford had worried they’d never find this level of connection. “Being with my friends is now a staple of my ������ý experience,” they said, those four-year-ago concerns long gone.

Bickford is a first-generation low-income student and one of the few people in their Biddeford, Maine, high school to leave the state for college. “I was going through a few things personally, which made that first year really hard,” they said. “There was a point where I felt like, okay, maybe I just solo this thing for four years,” they remembered.

During Bickford’s first spring semester, they ended up in KC Haydon’s Psychology 100 course. That class changed everything. “I had come into [the] College as an astronomy and environmental studies double major,” Bickford said. “But in this class, it was like, wait, this is what I want to do with my life.”

In part, it was the coursework that Bickford found particularly engaging. “I credit that class with making me fall in love with learning again,” they said. However, “it was also that I started building connections with professors and other students, and I realized, actually, I do belong in this community."

The more Bickford got involved — first within the Department of Psychology and Education, then in student-run clubs — the more Mount Holyoke began to feel like a vibrant and safe second home. They got a job as a Be Well peer educator and joined the Queer Action Collective and the . “Then I started stepping into leadership roles, which is something I’m not sure I would have predicted before coming to Mount Holyoke,” they said.

Today, Bickford is the vice president of the Queer Action Collective and the geology club. “As a queer, trans person, I don’t think I would have felt that I could explore my personal gender identity anywhere else like I could at ������ý,” they said, adding that the Queer Action Collective has been part of the wonderful, supportive community they’ve found at the College.

Throughout their four years on campus, Bickford has conducted research, supported by funding from The Lynk initiative, with astronomy professor M. Darby Dyar and visiting psychology professor Alyssa Norris. When they entered college, one of Bickford’s goals was to present their research at an academic conference. Their work in Norris’ lab resulted in a poster presentation at the in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Bickford was named as a coauthor, fulfilling their goal.

Norris is overseeing Bickford’s senior thesis. For this project, Bickford is examining the experiences of Mount Holyoke’s trans and nonbinary students. “I want to show the College that there is still more we can be doing for these students,” Bickford said. “I want to highlight what resources students still need and what the College can do.”

In the fall, Bickford will attend Tufts University’s graduate education program, where they will pursue a Master of Arts and Education Specialist Degree. “I want to someday take on a counseling role in education,” they said. “For me, what excites me is helping students.”

Bickford hopes to eventually return to their hometown to help its residents. “Biddeford is awesome, and I want to give back to the community that gives me so much,” they said.

Bickford is clear about one thing: when they begin the fall semester at Tufts, they won’t hesitate to join clubs and organizations. “Mount Holyoke really taught me that getting involved is so important to finding community,” Bickford said. “If it’s like, ‘Oh, someone wants to start something or has an idea?’ [I’ll say,] ‘Let’s do this.’”