You Don’t Know What You’re Missing…Actually I Do

Today was all about Today.  This morning, Matt Lauer and Al Roker broadcast portions of The Today Show live from Colonial Williamsburg with hundreds of exuberant William & Mary students cheering in the background.  It was incredibly fresh, today, and exciting…and I missed it.  I am currently blogging from Seattle where I am attending the NACAC Conference (National Association of College Admission Counselors).  For me, this is an incredible opportunity for professional development and networking.  It is also providing me with the ability to visit one of my bridesmaids who recently moved to Seattle to complete her residency.  To go to NACAC and network with thousands of my professional peers and to visit a beautiful city to which I have never traveled is an incredible opportunity that does not come around very often.  In order to take advantage of this opportunity I have had to miss another unique opportunity to be on national television representing my alma mater and the institution for which I work to millions of viewers.  As I watched the broadcast from my hotel room this morning I realized that a situation I often found myself in as an undergraduate was repeating itself again five years later and it reminded me how vibrant William & Mary is.

There is always so much going on at the College on any given day.  Whether it’s an a cappella concert or a multicultural night or a movie preview there’s always something if not multiple things to do.  On the weekends this is only magnified.  There are big concerts (Ying Yang Twins, Pat McGee band, My Chemical Romance), or fascinating guests (Lady Margaret Thatcher, Dr. Henry Kissinger, former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, Queen Elizabeth II, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor), or pop culture icons (Tim Gunn from Project Runway, Robb Riggle from The Daily Show, comedian Lewis Black), or big annual events (our annual Busch Gardens Day, King & Queen Ball).  Never did the issue arise that there was nothing to do but instead it was choosing from many appealing options and knowing that you weren’t able to attend everything that interested you.  When I was an upperclassman my boyfriend (now my husband) had already graduated and to see him I often had to leave campus.  Every time I did I knew that I was missing some intriguing campus event or knew that I might miss some non-planned event like mud football in the Sunken Gardens or a run with my roommate or hot chocolate and cookies with my lodgemates.  But this is a fantastic problem to have isn’t it?  Knowing there are too many way cool things happening on your camps all the time is the mark of a dynamic and vibrant social life.  So whether it’s Busch Gardens night or a showing of Sex and the City before it comes out on DVD or the Mosaic Cultural Festival there is never a dull night or even a dull moment on our campus.  Just ask Matt and Al…just don’t ask me I was taking advantage of another great William & Mary opportunity!

– Wendy Livingston