Meet the Transfer Interns — Meredith Lian

Hello everyone! My name is Meredith Lian and I am one of the three transfer interns here at William & Mary! I’m so excited to e-introduce myself so you all can get to know me a little better! I am a senior from Alexandria, VA, studying psychology and English, and a little fun fact about me is that I swam against Olympic Gold-Medalist Katie Ledecky when I was in high school. No, I did not win, unfortunately. Far from it. Still a fun fact though, right?

One of the reasons I became a transfer intern (and thus the reason I am writing this blog post) is because I myself am a transfer student. During my freshman year, I went to a very large, four-year, out-of-state university. I transferred to William & Mary at the start of my sophomore year, and have loved it every minute since. Being a student here has been an absolute dream come true. In addition to enjoying the incredible academics, I’ve gotten involved in some organizations on campus that have had not only an enormous impact on my life, but also on the community as well. I couldn’t possibly pick a favorite, so please read on if you’d like to hear about what I spend all of my time doing!

The first thing I got involved in at William & Mary was joining a social sorority. Being a part of the W&M fraternity and sorority community has given me so much more than I initially expected. I joined because I wanted to make a fast community, but I didn’t realize that it would open me up to an incredibly passionate group of women who support and encourage each other in every aspect of life.

Next, I decided to become a tour guide. Giving tours to prospective students has been an incredibly rewarding part of my college career. Through being a tour guide, I have met so many other wonderful current-students as well as prospective families, and I truly believe that W&M would not be the amazing place that it is without all of the hard work the Office of Admission does for us. I feel lucky to be a part of that operation!

At the start of my junior year, I decided I wanted to get even more involved on campus, and joined two more wonderful organizations. The first of those is a student-run club called ‘Someone You Know’. SYK is a sexual assault and interpersonal violence awareness and advocacy group. The work we do in this club is primarily to empower advocates, support survivors, and bring awareness to these incredibly relevant issues. One event SYK is promoting right now is our ‘Let’s Get Consensual’ campaign, in order to raise awareness about consent, and how everyone in the community has an important role to play in consent culture.

Last, but certainly not least, I am a member of William & Mary’s chapter of Camp Kesem. Camp Kesem is a national non-profit organization that puts on a week-long free summer camp for children whose parents have been affected by cancer. As college students, we raise money in the fall to send these amazing kids to camp for free, then we get the privilege of being their counselors over the summer. Our chapter became so popular over the last year that we had to open up two weeks of camp this summer instead of just one! I don’t know if I could possibly put into words the effect my week at Camp Kesem had on me. Everyday, I was profoundly inspired by the passion and empathy of my fellow counselors, as well as the unbelievable strength and love of every single one of the campers.

Thank you for following along this far! I hope this post has helped you get to know me a little better, and has helped you start getting excited about everything that the transfer process can bring you. I can’t wait to share a little more about myself and my W&M experience with you all in the coming weeks, so stay tuned! My fellow transfer interns (and fellow seniors yikes), Esther, Joey, and I are so excited for this year!

-Meredith