“One of the lasting joys of my life was the exposure, learning, and experience I had at Holyoke…I learned about myself too, and found that I was a much broader and receptive person than I could have believed. There were many frustrations to learn about and overcome, and I learned what it means to know that some frustrations exist throughout life and how to handle these. I did not find the experience sheltering at all. To the contrary, I found it so expansive with so many directions and options that every new avenue was bewildering, floundering, and then growing.”*
She was careful to point out however that her experience is only one of many and that she didn’t want her experience to be singled out as representative of the attitudes of all Black students before or since.
*1973 Interview with Leslie E. Sessom for History 265 “Black and White Americans”