Senior Lucy Devine did not always dream of attending Harvard. Although she has been visiting the campus for years because of the reunions her parents brought her to, she never imagined herself attending Harvard until recently. Her older brother currently attends Harvard, and Devine had a great experience visiting him on campus. The school’s acceptance rate is 5.9 percent, and Devine is the only girl out of 17 Mercy Harvard applicants since 2012 to be accepted. This year, she realized just what the school had to offer and how good of a fit it would be for her.

“I was open to other options,” said Devine. “I just wanted to pick the college that was best for me.”

She applied to the University of Michigan and two small liberal arts schools on the east coast, including Middlebury. Devine was strongly considering the University of Michigan for a while, but decided against it because of the large number of students. The liberal arts schools were also ruled out because of their size; they were too small. Devine also wanted a school where students generally all live on campus.

“I was really looking for a college that had the residential aspect all four years,” said Devine. “At Harvard, they have many different houses where students live and where all of social events are and there is food and a gym.”

Devine’s talents are wide-ranging, as evidenced by her rigorous courses and unique extracurriculars. Devine is a member of the Mercy Mimes and was the lead in Mercy’s most recent musical, The Sound of Music.

Devine is not positive about one specific major she wants to pursue, but is interested in performing arts, cognitive sciences, and education. She is thinking about becoming an elementary school teacher, but is open to changing her mind.

“I just want to do something that makes me happy,” said Devine.