You’re Cool

This is an exciting time of year for admission officers.  We get to see all of our hard work pay off each day as students send in their responses and enrollment deposits.  Each morning, our Operations Manager pulls the files of those students who have sent in a response card and an enrollment deposit stating that they will enroll in William & Mary’s Class of 2014 (the smart choice as we note on the response card itself).  There’s a crate in the Operations Area of our office where these individuals’ files are kept together so that we can watch the class come together, literally.  With a dark blue folder (denoting a Richmond applicant) or a yellow folder (denoting a Midwest applicant) I get especially excited because those are my regions but the lilacs (Fairfax County), the greens (the Upper South), the grays (the Southwest), the blacks (the Far West), the whites (the overseas schools), and the browns (the Western part of Virginia) make me equally excited because it means we’re building a geographically diverse class.

This year, we sent a congrats card of sorts to students in their admit pack stating “you’re cool” and we mean it.  We’re so excited about all of you and we cannot wait to see which of you make W&M your home for the next four years.  Each day I go through that crate looking to see who has enrolled.  Maybe today will be the day that someone enrolls who speaks an exotic language like Twi or Gujurati or Norwegian.  Maybe the young woman who helped her town develop a 20-year sustainability plan will pick W&M.  Maybe the young man who competes in the paralympics will decide that William & Mary is the perfect fit for him.  Maybe the young man who took time off after high school to serve in the Israeli military as a combat soldier will pick us like we picked him.  Maybe today is the day when the young woman who already has her Screen Actors Guild card will decide to spend her next four years in Williamsburg or today will be the day that the young man who is the captain of both football and wrestling while also starring in school musicals sends in his enrollment deposit.  As a graduate of W&M, it is simply thrilling to see who will carry on my alma mater’s legacy and to know that I played a part in that process.  We think you’re amazing.  We hope you think W&M is amazing.  You’re cool…really, you are.  So is W&M.  We think together we’re a perfect fit!

– Wendy Livingston