2013 in Review

I get it, it’s February. New Year’s decorations have been cleared, sparkling cider bottles recycled, and resolutions left to the wayside. But William & Mary made 2013 possibly the best year yet. Despite being a transfer student, I spent the spring semester of 2013 studying abroad in Grenoble, France. In high school, I had always known that I was going abroad. For a week, a semester, a year, I was going to study outside of the US. When I ended up transferring, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to study abroad.

Oh how wrong I was.

I walked into the Reves Center afraid that my scarlet T was shining extra bright that day. When I sat down and spoke with someone in the office, I explained I was a transfer and I wanted to go abroad, but I wasn’t sure I could still go for a whole semester. The wonderful intern flashed me a ridiculously confused smile, “Of course you can go abroad for a whole semester. Where do you want to go?” It was that simple. Instead of being worried that being a transfer would create a barrier, I was reminded, yet again, that it doesn’t matter how you got to William & Mary; you’re here and the volumes that could be filled with the opportunities available to you wouldn’t even fit in Swem.

After studying abroad, 2013 continued to prove a fantastic year. I spent the summer in Williamsburg as a Senior Interviewer meeting some of the best people at W&M. I then started my penultimate semester taking classes I had been looking forward to since I registered for them, participating in the clubs and organizations I had missed going abroad, and getting to participate in some of my favorite William & Mary traditions including Homecoming and Yule Log. With only a few months left at W&M, I cannot wait to see what 2014 has in store for me.

– Kate Fitzgerald