Introduction to Me

“Hello, my name is Billy Kopp. I am a rising senior from Cincinnati, OH. I am double majoring in Finance and History along with a Marketing concentration. A fun fact about me is that…” I know that was kind of an odd introduction to a blog but that is the little schpeel we had to give all week during training and before every tour. So I figured why not start off my blog with the same thing. Now, I’ll go into a little more background detail about me and my time so far at William & Mary.

Not being from Virginia, the 2/3 in-state and 1/3 out-of-state ratio of students seemed a little intimidating at first. I was somewhat anxious about not knowing anyone at the school or anyone in the Virginia area while being 9-10 hours driving away from home. Would it be easy to make friends, would I be overwhelmed by NoVA kids, would I meet other out-of-state people? Luckily, freshman orientation calmed all those nerves. During those five days, I met people from all over Virginia as well as people from all over the east coast. Now, going into my senior year, my best friends are from Virginia as well as Boston, Jersey, and California. Being an out-of-state student, it’s great meeting Virginia people because you can go home with them for short breaks and long weekends. Sophomore year I went to DC for Fall Break with a hallmate and then for Easter weekend I went to Virginia Beach with a different friend. It’s little trips like these that make being far from home much easier.

Along with making all new friends, I also had to explain to most people about the single-sexed high school experience.  There are several all-male and all-female high schools in Cincinnati (I went to St. Xavier) so for me it was totally normal not to go to a co-ed school.  I quickly learned that my norm did not hold true for most of the people I met.  They typically thought it was “weird” or that “they could never go to school with just boys/girls.”  I thought it was a great experience: there was almost no drama, the teachers could say pretty much whatever they wanted, and we had an awesome student section of 700+ guys at football/basketball games (“No Girls Allowed”).  It’s always fun to meet someone else who shared a similar high school experience, particularly the all-male Jesuit kind.  Whether they went to school in Cincinnati, Cleveland, or Baltimore, a common bond exists among us all.  I am happy to say that I now share another common thread with the William & Mary community.