South Hadley, Mass. - April 9, 2021 - Senior Mirei Golding-Powers (San Francisco, Calif.) of the Mount Holyoke College field hockey team has recently been featured by the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) as the international relations major was part of the league's "Student-Athlete Spotlight" series.

View NEWMAC Student-Athlete Spotlight Series

Class: Senior
Sport: Field Hockey
Position: Forward
Major: International Relations
Minor: Chinese

What made you choose Mount Holyoke College? 
Coming from California, I knew I wanted to experience living on the east coast and attending a college that was both challenging academically and competitive athletically. The aspect of a Historically Women's College also stood out to me as I loved the idea of having an environment where smart women came together and supported each other to push boundaries and strive to be the best. 

What is your most memorable moment as a NEWMAC student-athlete?          
Every four years our field hockey team takes an international training trip in August, and our last one was in 2018 (my sophomore year) to Australia. It was such a surreal experience traveling across the world with my team and playing against Australian teams.

What do you enjoy most about being a Division III student-athlete?   
Being a DIII Student-Athlete allows me to pursue my academic as well as my athletic career in the same capacity. With an emphasis on both, my coaches and professors are all supportive of me and accommodate when necessary. I am able to balance academic and athletic life while getting to enjoy and experience all that college has to offer.

Do you have a favorite event or matchup with a fellow NEWMAC institution that you always look forward to every year?  
Playing Wellesley and Smith are both fun competitions since we are three Historically Women's Colleges in the NEWMAC. As competitive as these matches are, it is always inspiring to see how strong the field hockey communities are between these three institutions.

Can you give us a brief description of your major and why you chose it?
The international relations major at MHC includes studies in the disciplines of economics, history, geography, politics, and language. I have a background in Mandarin having attended a Chinese school in San Francisco, and combined with my interest in politics, I thought International Relations was a perfect fit for me.

Do you have any future plans?
After my last summer internship doing marketing, digital media creation, and social media managing for a publishing company, I found a passion for marketing. Post graduation, I plan to move back to the Bay Area and I am in the application process for a job in marketing for a local podcast.

Any additional information?
A fun fact about me is that I have been to all seven continents!