Sweet Home Alab…I Mean Williamsburg

Hey blog-followers,

I’m blogging right now from a hotel in Birmingham, Alabama. I’m also heading to bed soon so that I can wake up for my 7 a.m. flight back to Williamsburg! Talk about early!

What the heck am I doing in Alabama? Well, today I had an interview for something that will hopefully turn into a post-grad plan. (Maybe if every single one of you reading this crosses your fingers for me, things will work in my favor…pretty please?) I’ve kind of fallen in love with Birmingham, but I also can’t wait to get back to the College for these last few weeks. The days I’m away from the ‘burg are often the ones I love it most.

Take this trip for example. In the past 24 hours, I’ve probably received 4 texts and 6 Gchats all wishing me good luck in my interview, wanting to know how it went, and assuring me that I did a great job — and it really reminded me of how “competition” works at William and Mary.

Not once in my college career can I remember someone straight up asking me what grade I got on a paper, an exam or as a final grade on a class. I’ve never had a friend ask me about my GPA, and no one’s ever put me down about my work. Instead, I remember requests to form study groups, emails to entire classes to split up crazy-long study guides and compliments on presentations. I think it’s something that often goes unnoticed because we take it for granted, but William and Mary is probably one of the most supportive environments I’ll ever be in when it comes to success.

I know it becomes a cliche in the Admission Office, but the truth really is that the only person you’ll compete against here is yourself. Inside and outside the classroom, students here are so supportive of one another. I genuinely feel that people here want to see each other succeed in everything they do.

So some of those texts and Gchats were from seniors who’ve landed jobs or grad school acceptances, some were from seniors who haven’t yet, and some were from friends who aren’t even seniors and don’t have to worry about that yet. Everyone was supportive, because that’s just how W&M’ers are.

And why wouldn’t you want to be a part of something like that?

See you in 14 hours, Williamsburg!