September Mostransky '25 knew which college she would never attend (Siena) and what she wouldn't do there anyway (cheer). Nothing would change her mind. Except maybe a pandemic...
September will sometimes wake up unable to unlock her knee. Tylenol doesn't touch the pain, so there's no point in trying. She suffers from psoriatic arthritis, an auto-immune condition that for unknown reasons, triggers inflammation in the joints and any place tendons and ligaments attach to the bones. There's no cure, and in September's case, it's one of seven different auto-immune conditions she manages. In those moments, when the knee won't bend and the pain is at its worst, she's just thankful she ended up at the one place she never wanted to be.
Marc Mostransky played soccer at Siena; Meegan Mostransky cheered for the Saints and founded the Siena Dance Team in 1999, just a year after she graduated. If they wanted their daughter, September, to be a part of the tradition, that was reason enough for September to pass.
"I actually didn't want to go to Siena at all. I was very against it. I didn't want to do the same thing my parents did."
She narrowed her college search down to two schools: Marist and Manhattan. Because of COVID, September didn't get the chance to tour Marist, and felt uncomfortable committing to a school she'd never seen. As for Manhattan, September has an uncle living in New York City who advised her not to enter the boroughs at the height of the pandemic. That left September, begrudgingly, enrolling at Siena.
In high school, September missed on her senior year of cheer because of COVID, but she did finish 2nd at the world dance championships in Orlando with Dance Intensity Cobras. She could have pursued dance in college, but her mom was the coach, and that would have been... "awkward."
"I didn't want to have to worry about allegations of favoritism. I might not be her favorite dancer - and I watch that team and I know there are stronger dancers than me - but I didn't want the drama."
Instead, September went out for the cheer team, and found herself the one place she didn't want to be - cheering in her mom's shadow. A few doctor's visits later, though, and she's grateful to be home.
September's brother was the child with the health problems. Her brother was diagnosed with cancer when he was six, and spent years in and out of hospitals. He had to be the focus for Meegan and Marc, not September. But, during her freshman year at Siena, something was off. She was diagnosed with her first auto-immune condition, and doctors warned that when there's one, there could be many. Psoriatic arthritis has been the hardest, and September couldn't imagine being away at school while managing her conditions. She's at Siena, and she's with her family, so she makes a conscious choice not to complain.
"Mentally, I get frustrated. But I never say, 'why me?' Stuff happens to everybody. I don't dwell on it."
Instead, she looks for the positives in every situation. For example, when she's getting an infusion for the arthritis – a once every eight-weeks process that lasts three hours – she considers it time to get homework done.
"I ask the nurse to read to me from my textbooks. He's great. He spent hours reading out loud from my International Organization textbook."
The doctors tell September that activity is the most important thing she can do for the arthritis, so she works out daily and cheers. Sometimes – like when her knee won't bend – she'll be sidelined. But never for very long.
"September has been a member of our team since she started at Siena three years ago," said Kathleen Fenlon, director of Financial Aid and cheer coach. "She perseveres through pain frequently to participate in the sport she loves! I've always admired her strength to do so while battling something no one else would realize she deals with."
In fact, just recently, September made the dance team for the Albany Firebirds. Her mom once danced for the Firebirds, but following her mom no longer feels like a mistake.
"I definitely think it's special in some ways. She went here, and now I'm going here. She was on the Firebirds, and I just made that team. It's full circle. I'm following in her footsteps, and I kind of like it."
"Watching September as a member of a team I myself was once on, has been pretty amazing. When she decided to go to Siena I was of course thrilled because her father and I had such a great experience. When she made the cheer team, I was very proud of her and happy she was able to follow her passion for her sport. It has been awesome to watch her over the years, especially when I have a front row seat. Her first Siena game was in 2003 when she was a month old; heading to coach my dancers with me!"
Meegan Mostransky '98, Siena Dance Team head coach