Photo courtesy of Ramisa Tahsin Rahman ‘25
Above, Mariam Fatima ‘25, Yu Wati Nyi ‘25, Ramisa Tahsin Rahman ‘25, and Hayam Daudzai ‘24 pose In front of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a November break trip to Boston.
By Cynthia Akanaga ’25
Staff Writer
The three-day November break left the campus sparsely populated, but many international students remained on campus.
Ramisa Tahsin Rahman ’25, an international student from Bangladesh, was unable to go back home because the flight would take about 24 hours. According to Rahman, “it’s just not worth it.”
For Sulagna Saha ’25, also from Bangladesh, the flight back home was too expensive. Like Rahman, she didn’t think the break offered adequate time to travel and also spend at home.
Rahman decided to spend her break on a “two-day trip with friends to Boston.” She also took a trip to the mall to take advantage of Black Friday sales and shop for her family. Rahman set aside the last two days for schoolwork.
“A lot of my friends stayed on campus, so I spent time with them,”Rahman said. “We all were there [for] each other, which was a good thing. I’d say it was fun. I wasn’t lonely, but I got a little homesick because everyone was going back home to see their families and I wasn’t.”
Saha chose to spend her break on campus. “Most of the time I spent watching series that I loved. The campus was almost empty, [and] most of my friends were not here because they went home. [I tried] to enjoy my time alone and just walked around campus,” Saha said. When she felt lonely, Saha used Zoom to talk with friends back home.
The Office of Residential Life sent out an email with events for those who were staying on campus. On Wednesday, they hosted bowling, on Friday yoga; complimentary movie tickets were also offered to students. Shuttles to CVS and Big Y were also provided on Wednesday and Saturday. Additionally, shuttles were provided between Hampshire and Mount Holyoke campuses.
Although Rahman couldn’t attend any of the events, she stated, “all my friends who stayed back for these first two days said they went bowling and it was super fun.” Rahman added how she wished Mount Holyoke “could provide a shuttle service for the Black Friday sale for going to the mall.” According to her, many students had to take an Uber, and “we live in a place where it’s [difficult] to get an Uber.”
Speaking on the events offered, Saha expressed a desire for the Office of Residential Life to “ask the students [who are staying during the Thanksgiving break] what kind of events they want because apart from the bowling nothing else really caught [her] interest.” Saha also expressed that for herself and many international students, the “Thanksgiving tradition is not familiar,” and urged the school to consider organizing a Thanksgiving dinner for those staying behind.
Both Rahman and Saha took issue with the early breakfast time. Rahman stated that “a lot of people who have 8:30 [a.m.] classes decided to sleep in during this break. But … breakfast ends at nine, so a lot of them end up missing breakfast and staying hungry until lunchtime.” Saha said she “missed breakfast every day” due to its early 9 a.m closing, exhibiting Rahman’s concern.
Saha also wished Mount Holyoke would keep more “spaces open on campus for us so that we can spend time there because most of the spaces are closed.”