Over dinner at the bustling Blanchard Café, at least half of our recorded interview was spent anguishing over what Doctor Who once was (Donna Noble for LIFE, bruh), exchanging a really bad joke about the Higgs Boson particle, and being occasionally interrupted by our lovely editors, the inseparable Lyssi and Deborah.
So you’ve gained some notoriety for walking your pet rabbit around campus.
Her name is River Song, she’s three years old, and she’s a Holland Lop. My dad used to call her a “little burnt marshmallow.” I usually try to walk her once a day. Finals month has started so it’s been getting hard to walk her every day, so she’s been getting kind of antsy. She makes really loud thumping noises if she doesn’t get let out. Yesterday she tried a banana for the first time and she loved it. If you want to see River Song, you’re always welcome to come pet her. I usually take her out from 2 to 4. My roommate and I actually met because of her! We bonded over the fact that we both had bunny rabbits.
Did you name her after the character River Song from Doctor Who?
I did! She’s my favorite Doctor Who character. All I do is watch TV, I love it. I just started watching The West Wing, my boyfriend told me to watch it, and I’m totally addicted. I love Jane the Virgin, I love that it’s in a telenovela style, it’s so funny. I watch every kind of TV show that you can imagine. I love television. I’ve probably watched at least parts of every television series.
How did you meet your boyfriend?
We actually met on Tumblr, we were mutual follows. I like to get to know my mutuals, just to say “hi” sometimes, so that’s how we started talking. The first time I told my parents about him, my dad was like, “…Okay.” And my mom was like, “What are you DOING?!” She yelled at me for like a week. “You put us all in DANGER.” I was like, okay mom. But as soon as he visited, they loved him. He’s been back for every vacation ever since, he’s actually coming back in twenty days. We’ve been dating a little over a year and a half.
Why did you choose Mount Holyoke, and how’s your first year going so far?
My first choice was Yale, and my second choice was Barnard. I was actually deciding between Mount Holyoke and Boston University, which are very different from each other. As soon as I came to this campus, I thought that it was beautiful. I met Professor Larry Schipull from the music department and he’s great. I also met a voice teacher, Cheryl Cobb. I loved her personality and similarities to my previous voice teacher, Nell, so much, I thought “I have to go here, and I have to take a voice lesson with her.” I’m currently working with Professor Cobb, and it’s a wonderful experience! Many professors at Mount Holyoke are extremely flexible and concerned about your education. Everyone here is so qualified to do their job. Choosing Mount Holyoke was a good decision, and I’m so happy here.
You’re a Music and Physics double major. That’s an interesting combination.
Ever since I was little, my dad talked about quantum mechanics so much, because he was a self-taught quantum physicist. Before he passed away, he begged me to watch this movie Particle Fever with him. I finally watched it and I absolutely fell in love with it. It just sparked my interest about particle physics. And with music, I’ve been studying piano and voice with the same teacher for eleven years.
What are you thinking of doing with these two totally different studies after college?
If I don’t get a job in performing arts and physics, I’ll get my PhD in experimental physics. One of my dream jobs is working with CERN on the Atlas Project – it’s the project that discovered the Higgs Boson particle. The second one is to be a head researcher at a private institute and do experimental physics there. And my third dream involves singing. I think if I really try hard enough, anything is possible.