I cannot believe I am a quarter of the way through my undergraduate career already! I feel like as I get older every year moves just a little bit faster. I have had so many wonderful experiences during my first year at Washington and Lee and have made incredible memories. I’m sad that many of my friends will be gone for the next three months while I remain in Lexington, Virginia. That’s right, I’m staying here in Lex Vegas for the summer to work as an intern for the W&L Admissions Office! I’ll be giving tours to prospective students and doing administrative work, making some great connections and a steady income that will definitely help me out next year.
For nostalgia’s sake, and to give you soon-to-be college students a taste of what to look forward to next year, I’d like to list my Top Ten Freshman Memories:
10. Decorating my beautiful (and quite large) SINGLE dorm room. I loved having my own space after four years of having a roommate in boarding school!
9. Going to Flagstaff, Arizona for a week with my geology class to get a first-hand look at the volcanic structure. I may not be one for hiking, but I have to admit climbing a cinder cone is a once in a lifetime experience.
8. Learning how rock a sundress and pearls. At W&L, girls wear dresses more than they wear jeans! I’ve grown to love the Southern style.
7. Watching Beauty and the Briefcase and several episodes of “Dora the Explorer” one evening on bunk beds with friends and many pizzas. Being a Spanish major, it was more fun than you’d think…
6. Climbing House Mountain, a “mountain” (probably more like a very big hill, but still) about 20 minutes from Lexington with a couple of my friends. I never thought we’d make it to the top!
5. Participating in all of the fun mixers that my sorority and other fraternities hosted. They had really cool themes—my favorites were Back to the Future, Slumber Party, and Harry Potter.
4. Reading The Tales of Beedle the Bard with a wonderful fifth grade class at the local elementary school. A fellow volunteer and I created cute projects to go along with each week’s reading and really got to know the kids.
3. Realizing I actually find economics really interesting. Never thought that was going to happen, but with a couple of wonderful professors’ help I decided that I loved the discipline enough to make it one of my majors.
2. Getting up at 4am to watch the Royal Wedding live with several other wedding-obsessed girls, eating donuts and bagels in the basement of a fraternity house. It was so worth it.
1. Rushing a sorority! I am absolutely in love with all of my Pi Beta Phi sisters, all of the philanthropy events we plan, all the fun activities we have, and how close we have all become. I feel like I have an amazing group of friends on campus that are, well, sisters to me! I can’t wait to see them all again in the fall.
Have a great summer, everyone, and have fun getting ready to start the new school year soon!