Do you know the etymology of the word snob?

Well, it has undoubtedly been the most interesting start to a semester I have had in all of my time at William and Mary. From my professor bringing in coffee and cookies to our first day in her 8am class to this semester’s career fair to William and Mary’s very own Bill Lawrence (he writes the show Scrubs) coming to campus, these past few weeks have been a good reminder that there is never a dull moment on our campus!

Let’s start with the academic world. While we have had some typical classes in the past few weeks, it seems that all my professors this semester are certainly throwing “traditional” lesson plans to the wind. In the first two weeks of class, I have learned the etymology of the word snob in my Intro to Islam course, I have evaluated the potential leadership capabilities of a rock and a glass vase, I have performed population genetics studies with coin tosses, and I have learned to waltz (although that is what the class is supposed to be about). My entrepreneurship class is the most unique class I have taken in my time at William and Mary. Over half of our grade for that class is in an individual business plan we will all write as part of the class. The unique part, however, is that we have four “Executive Partners” who are helping with the class. These are not just teaching assistants. These are retired business people who have volunteered their time to come assist our class. They each bring their own amazing range of experiences to the class and are very willing to meet with students to discuss…whatever! I ran into one of the “EPs” in the library one day and started talking about my plans for after graduation. By the end of our conversation, he had a list of several contacts to whom he wanted to present me and he had a list of things for me to do to further my job search. They are incredibly helpful, and it shocks me every day that I come to class that these people are willing to take time out of their schedules to help us with whatever we need. Another example—I’m meeting with one of the “EPs” on Friday over coffee to go over the financial background we need for the class since I have never had Finance before. Whenever you come to William and Mary, anyone you talk to will go on and on about how dedicated the professors are. This is not only demonstrated in the EPs in my entrepreneurship class, but also my professor. After meeting with him last week to discuss my business idea, he invited me to attend a brown bag lunch seminar he was giving to MBA students on job search strategies. So at 12:15 that day, I piled into a classroom with about 40 MBA students to join in an upbeat “behind the scenes” look at what corporations/recruiters are thinking as they look at your resume.

There is also a lot going on outside of class. I am continuing to develop Life After D.o.G. Street—our next seminar is on February 25th if you are interested. In addition, last week one of the biggest “superstars” in Islamic studies came to campus to give a talk called “Message to President Obama: What One Billion Muslims Really Think.” He was phenomenal! He is a real life advisor to President Obama and one of the masterminds behind the recent Gallup Poll, which studied the opinions of Muslims from 35 countries. As someone who prides herself on being relatively knowledgeable about global events, even I was surprised at how much the American popular media has shaped my view of Islam and anti-American sentiments in the Middle East. Of course, all of the standard “goings on” are happening as well—the basketball season is in full swing, comedians are coming to campus through AMP (formerly UCAB), and The Secret Garden (this year’s student-run theater production) has come and gone—there really is never a dull moment on this campus! When I stop and think about all that I do and how I still miss so many events, I have to marvel at everything going on around this campus! And now, I am off to have dinner with the admissions interns!