To this day, the ears of Molly M. Simmons ’05 perk up whenever the Naval Academy is mentioned. In June of her senior year, Simmons was all set to enlist. The papers were signed and the Academy had a spot reserved for her. For Simmons, whose father and two sisters are all Harvard alumni, it would have been a huge departure from family tradition. At the last minute—two weeks before she was scheduled to leave for Annapolis—Simmons changed her mind, trading in her regulation blues for bright crimson.
Growing up, Harvard was an almost constant presence in Simmons’ life. Her home in Belmont lies just five miles outside Harvard Square, and she spent her formative years watching her two older sisters blaze their ways through the College. Her father, who graduated in 1961, is an orthopedic surgeon who works at University Health Services on a regular basis. Simmons has memories of standing on the sidelines of football games while her father worked as a trainer. She’s missed one Harvard-Yale game in her life.
Despite their age difference, Simmons has always had a close relationship with her two sisters, Quincey R. Simmons ’92 and Sara P. Simmons ’95. “They are my constant sources of support,” she says. During those years, her sisters were a huge influence on her. “I was forming my childhood opinions of myself when they were at Harvard,” she explains. By the time she entered St. Paul School’s boarding school at age 14, Simmons was determined to follow in her sisters’ paths. “From the get-go, I knew I wanted to go to Harvard.”
Simmons’ sisters both excelled at Harvard. Quincey concentrated in Anthropology before attending the Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine, while Sara’s niche was on the field—she played three varsity sports during her time as an undergraduate. A leading scorer on the soccer team, Sara was the captain of the crew team and went on to row for the U.S. National Team. Her success on the field carried over into the classroom, where she was a pre-med Biology concentrator.
As the college admissions time grew closer, Simmons began to question her desire to attend Harvard. While she had spent many years cheering for the Crimson, she had become a very successful rower at St. Paul’s, and was being recruited by many national universities. In particular, she was intrigued by the Naval Academy. “I had always wanted to be an astronaut,” Simmons says. “I was tempted by the idea of being able to fly planes and being a woman in the military.”
In addition, Simmons had a fear of rejection. “If I didn’t get in, I would have been the family idiot,” she recalls. The pressure was mostly internal, however. “My family was always good at encouraging me to go where I wanted,” Simmons says. After grappling with the decision, she ultimately defaulted to her childhood dream. “It came down to the fact that I respect the military,” she says. “But that doesn’t mean that I love it. I made the 110 percent right decision.”
Upon arriving in Cambridge, Simmons did not feel the pressure to live up to her sisters’ legacies. “Going to boarding school made me very independent,” she explains. Simmons also took a year off in between high school and college, during which she worked for a Manhattan advertising agency, taught skiing at a Vail resort, and then spent three months backpacking through Europe. “Being on my own and supporting myself gave me the perspective of being an independent individual,” she says. “Sure, my sisters went here, but I am own person.”
Simmons has established her own identity on campus. She rowed for Harvard last year, but joined the varsity ski team this fall after suffering a serious wrist injury. She hopes to rejoin crew teammates this spring. This past summer, she worked as a researcher for “Let’s Go USA,” travelling across the Deep South. However, her talents extend far beyond Dillon Field House. She will be appearing in the Cabot House musical and also works with the Coalition Against Sexual Violence and the First-year Outdoor Program.
Simmons says that her sisters have, if anything, ameliorated any pressure she would have felt. “They’re the ultimate advice-givers,” she says. More than anything, Simmons is determined not to let her family’s legacy interfere with her own ability to create her own.
