Three Hours South of Disney World: The Out-of-State Experience

I’ll never forget the moment when I finally asked my hall mate where “NOVA” is. “Northern Virginia, duh.” During New Student Orientation my freshman year at William & Mary, I got very used to conversations like this:

“I’m from NOVA.”

“Me too. Where did you go to high school?”

“Woodson. Go Cavaliers.”

“I went to Oakton, do you know Jane Doe?”

“Yeah she’s in my math class.”

“Oh cool. She’s my neighbor”

This exact conversation could go on for 15 minutes. 15 long minutes of me standing there, wondering how many mutual connections I had to listen to before I could change the subject. I would excitedly interject: “I’m from SOFL! Get it, South Florida.” Needless to say no one else thought the joke was funny, and I’m still waiting for SOFL to catch on. I became worried that the students from Virginia would only hang out with each other. I started to fret that students would just stick with the people that they knew from high school and not have room in their groups for the excited girl from Florida.

That fear was quickly washed away. Those first few weeks I met a lot of students from Virginia; however, I also met Tribe members from Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Australia, and China. Every student that I met brought different experiences to the table, and it didn’t matter if they were 50 or 5,000 miles from home. The students from Virginia do not make up a special club that excludes all out-of-staters. Every student at William & Mary is here to learn, grow, and explore, and this fact does not change just because someone is lucky enough to pay in-state tuition.

When I made the decision to join the William & Mary community, I chose to become a part of a community of diverse scholars. I chose to surround myself with people who are passionate about everything: from Music to Marketing, gaming to Geology, hiking to Hispanic Studies, the entire gambit of interests. These students amaze me everyday, and each of us has individual experiences that we contribute in our classrooms, student activities, and beyond.

So yes, I am from Florida. Yes, I probably live near your grandparents. Yes, I go to the beach a lot. Yes, I have found my spot in this Tribe, and I would not trade it for the world. And no, SOFL has still not caught on.

– Catie Pinkerton ’16