Mary Ellen Bertolini

Now retired, I taught writing and literature (esp. Jane Austen) at Middlebury College until 2019.

[Mary Ellen Bertolini @mebertolini]

@KatTimpf XO

[Mary Ellen Bertolini @mebertolini]

@KatTimpf You are in my heart. Will try to do as you ask.

[Mary Ellen Bertolini @mebertolini]

https://t.co/VSsAoAQkwh

[Mary Ellen Bertolini @mebertolini]

Check out this product: https://t.co/jcuKxs902a

[Jane Austen First Drafts @Austen1stDrafts]

I take no leave of you, 2025. I send no compliments to your mother. You deserve no such attention. I am most seriously displeased.

[Mary Ellen Bertolini @mebertolini]

@JaniceDean XOXOXOXO

[Winchester Cathedral @WinCathedral]

#OnThisDay
Jane Austen died in Winchester on the 18th July 1817, and was buried inside Winchester Cathedral six days later on the 24th July.
If you'd like to celebrate the life of Jane you can view a range of events here: https://t.co/TILazEVh4B
#JaneAusten

[cats with jobs 🛠 @CatWorkers]

The new editor is slowing things down a bit.

[Shabana Basij-Rasikh @sbasijrasikh]

Today I want to share an update on our 2025 admissions season. I want to share some numbers with you, and I want to share what those numbers mean to me.

The numbers first. This year, we received 5,416 applications from Afghan girls who want to attend @solaafghanistan in Rwanda.

5,416 applications, from girls in 13 countries.

For context: in 2022, the year of our first admissions season in Rwanda, we received just under 200 applications.

We received just under 2,000 applications in 2023.

We received just under 3,300 applications in 2024.

And this year, I’ll say it again: we received 5,416 applications.

We can enroll approximately 30 girls out of the 5,416 who applied.

That’s roughly one half of 1%.

My team and I had a sense of what we’d see this year. We were ready. But even so, the memory of the things we’d read in previous admissions seasons and the anticipation of what was coming – it doesn’t fully prepare you. It just doesn’t. The emotions right now aren’t something I can easily describe.

5,416 applications and we can accept approximately 30 students. One half of one percent.

These are the numbers. The numbers are girls. And I want to be very clear about this: each girl is a human being who deserves the opportunity to go to school.
I will never look away from Afghanistan. Never. And I will never look away from the Afghan girls who have never given up.

This is what comes next: we will contact shortlisted students for interviews by the end of September. We’ll be making final admissions decisions by the end of December, and we’ll be working with our partners at the UN’s International Organization for Migration to bring admitted students to Rwanda.

Here’s what else comes next: we will continue to grow our @SOLAxOnline academy. We’re at 20,000+ users right now, and every girl who applied to join SOLA can sign up on SOLAx right now, and so can any Afghan, anywhere. It’s completely free, and it’s waiting for you.
We’re also continuing construction on our new Rwanda campus. We’re on target to open our doors for the start of the 2026 school year next fall.

This is only the beginning. We can do more, and we will. For Afghanistan. For the girls who have never given up, and who never will.

[Mary Ellen Bertolini @mebertolini]

https://t.co/WwYGY8UyxL

[Mary Ellen Bertolini @mebertolini]

@KatTimpf Much love to you, sweetheart. ❤️

[Irving Berlin @Irving_Berlin]

May your days be merry and bright ❄️ Happy Holidays!

📸: Paramount Pictures

#WhiteChristmas70

[Mary Ellen Bertolini @mebertolini]

@Maxthecat5905 @NatKitty11 JFK!!!!!!!

[Mary Ellen Bertolini @mebertolini]

Now You Have Dunnett: The Game of Kings, First in the Lymond Chronicles https://t.co/HjshcgATyR

[Julie Morgenstern @JulieMorgenstrn]

Being unwilling to risk failure will prevent you from attaining your goals, because you’re forever afraid to take that first step. #productivitytip #organizationtip #balancetip

[cats with jobs 🛠 @CatWorkers]

The IT specialist has arrived.

[Mary Ellen Bertolini @mebertolini]

@PlanetTyrus Love you and Kat and love your friendship.