Categories
Career & Networking

What I Want to Be When I Grow Up

By Maegan Crews Fallen ’12

Did you think about what you wanted to be “when you grew up” as a kid all the time, or was that just me?  At one point in my childhood I wanted to be Barbara Walters, then a lawyer, an archeologist, a teacher, a truck driver and a million other things. I was never the kid, or teenager, or then college student who knew for sure what I wanted to do with my life. While that caused its fair share of existential crises throughout the years, it also led me to my current role which has been perfect for the kid who doesn’t know what they want to be when they grow up. 

My time at William and Mary was some of the most formative years of my life, as college should be. My confidence, curiosity, and community all grew in ways I didn’t know were possible. From my Barrett Hall freshman dorm, to the classrooms of Morton —RIP, to the Pi Phi House and the many nights in Swem, I slowly evolved into the person I am today. While I did not share the same specialized and specific career goals some of my peers had, I did begin to live some of the lessons that have been tremendously important to me in my roles since then. Looking back now, so many of these experiences are so clearly tied to the professional I am. 

I was fortunate enough to land my first job after college because of an internship I had completed the summer before. A couple weeks shy of graduating, I called my internship supervisor and asked if she had any leads I should pursue, only to be pleasantly surprised that the office would soon be adding another staffer and I was invited to apply. I am grateful that my first three years as a professional were spent as a congressional staffer and meant I got to put my government degree to use —don’t we all love to actually use our degrees? In this role I realized that the experiences I had outside the classroom were just as formative as those inside. The relationships I had throughout college with peers, faculty and staff had taught me to be an active listener and read between the lines when solving problems. I had built a community and knowledge of resources through my previous internships and used those quite often when I assisted constituents.

My husband (Jon Fallen’10, M.A.Ed’11) and I decided we wanted to move closer to our families, so I took a calculated risk and decided to change industries and actually took a step backward to get my foot in the door in higher education. I am not a naturally risk taker, In fact I would say I am the opposite; however,  I  reflected on my time at William and Mary where I learned the importance of hard work and perseverance. This step ended up paying off in a big way because through my time at Randolph College, a small private liberal arts in Lynchburg, Virginia, I have moved up through various positions to Director of Career Services. Now my role consists of coaching and counseling students about what they want to be when they grow up. Every day I get to think about a different career field and help map out a route to that job for the student. It really helps satisfy that itch of not knowing just what you want to become. I can confidently preach to my students about the importance of internships and networking because my career has been a testament to those. It is a rewarding job because I get a taste of everything that’s out there, what it’s like to apply in those fields, and watch as my students blossom into young professionals themselves. My hopes are that some day I just might finally figure out what I want to be when I grow up too. 

So here’s my advice: take risks, get involved, realize networking exists in every part of our lives, talk to people and work hard. You never know where you might end up; it might just be where you belong. 

Feel free to contact me via email (mlcrews@email.wm.edu), find me on LinkedIn, and make sure to watch my W&M Professionals Week Young Professionals Networking Workshop webinar!

Connect with Maegan on LinkedIn.

Categories
Undergraduate Experience

Inspiration from W&M

By James Crafford ’20

As a songwriter I find it difficult at times to muster or identify inspiration. Few things are as effortlessly inspiring than a warm, sunny day in Williamsburg. Golden red bricks, mature green trees, and copper cupolas against deep blue sky.  Of the few who have the privilege to study at institutions as fine as William & Mary, even fewer have the privilege to do so in a place so beautiful.  From Colonial Williamsburg, to Lake Matoaka, the Sunken Garden, College Creek, and more, The College is set in an amazing geographic and cultural location that holds a special place in the hearts of so many students present and past. 

Not only is William & Mary an inspiring environment because of its intimate setting in Williamsburg, but also because of its bright and eager student body.  The campus atmosphere is bustling and emboldening and there is a strong sense of comraderie and pride shared among the students. Students learn in and outside of class how to assume personal responsibility, manage time, adapt to challenges, and define personal goals. Students develop these skills through working alongside their peers as well as through their coursework, and in doing so create valuable relationships that they will cherish forever.  Many of the friends I met at William & Mary continue to be my closest; for that I am forever grateful.  

In short, William & Mary is a uniquely wonderful place to consider alma mater. 

Follow along with James on Instagram and Spotify.

Categories
Undergraduate Experience VIMS

Lessons from W&M Last a Lifetime

By Erin Spencer ’14

I got an email this week from a freshman at my graduate alma mater. “Ms. Spencer”, it began “can I ask about decisions you made in your early career that helped you get where you are now?”  

“I’m still early career!” I thought to myself. I’m happy to chat about my experience, but it kind of feels like a child leading a slightly-younger child. It feels strange giving advice when there is still so much I don’t know myself.

But the truth is, with my 10-year alumni reunion far closer than I would like, I’m rapidly leaving the “early career” phase into the “should have my act together by now” phase. I feel like I’m getting there: I worked in DC at National Geographic and Ocean Conservancy (and had many brunches on 14th St with W&M alums), then I got my Masters in Ecology from UNC – Chapel Hill where I studied fisheries management and seafood mislabeling. In between I led research projects from Florida to Fiji and accumulated more freelance writing jobs than I can count. Now, I’m pursuing my PhD in Biology in Miami, where I put data collecting devices on great hammerhead sharks. In theory, at least, I should have something to offer to a college student looking to start in the field of marine science.

Our conversation was perfectly nice. She came prepared with well-research questions about how to start in marine science, the importance of internships vs. research experiences, how to get into graduate school, and more. I shared what I could, qualifying each rambling answer with “I hope that’s helpful!”.

Later, as I thought about our chat, one thing stood out: Almost all of my advice came from lessons I learned at William and Mary. Despite two other alma maters and four previous employers, my best guidance came from my experiences as an undergrad.

When she asked me about how I got my first job at National Geographic, I talked about how I first got an internship there through the W&M DC Summer Institutes, and how the Career Center helped me build my resume for my dream job. When she asked about how to get research funding, I talked about how the Cohen Center gave me my first grant, which was then matched by National Geographic after seeing the project had initial funding. When she asked how to get research experience, I talked about how I worked at VIMS counting Antarctic plankton, which led to my first peer-reviewed publication and helped me get into my Master’s program.

As cliché as it sounds, the most important things I learned at William and Mary aren’t on my resume. I learned that I don’t have to pigeon-hole myself to one field; I can pursue multiple interests and weave them together into a fulfilling career. It’s because of this that I split my time between working on my PhD studying sharks, and writing children’s books on the ocean (shameless plug—the first of which is coming out in March 2022!).

I learned to pull as I climb, and that there is always room for empathy in your field. I will forever be grateful to my professors—especially women—who gave me advice and countless letters of recommendation, and simply led by example.

I learned that no one can tell you the right path—you need to make that choice for yourself. William and Mary was a safe place for me to try new things, to extend myself beyond my comfort zone, and learn my limits. I’ve carried these lessons throughout my career, and am grateful to William and Mary for giving me the confidence to trust myself.

My early career path has been circuitous, and full of hard work, luck, and good timing. William and Mary gave me the degree, research experiences, and internships I needed to start in my career. But more than that, it gave me the lessons in compassion, collaboration, and confidence I needed to thrive. Sharing those experiences with the next generation was an important reminder that I will forever be grateful to William and Mary and a proud member of the Tribe.

Follow along with Erin’s work on Twitter, Instagram, and her website and connect with her on LinkedIn.

Categories
Health & Wellness

Your Best Running Friend

By Chloe Rosen ’11

Hi, my name is Chloe Rosen, the runner formerly known as Chloe Lewis (class of ‘11, woo woo!). At William and Mary, I was lucky to spend the best four years of my life making the closest friends, taking thrilling classes, performing at PBK, and learning that I liked grits, especially with cheese. I also learned that I loved running. 

So, you’re probably reading this like, oh yeah, I sort of remember her (or maybe you don’t at all, which is totally fine), didn’t she give tours or something? Yes, yes, I did. But that’s not the point. The point is learning to love running at W&M changed my life and put me on a trajectory towards the career I have now. But more on that later. 

Here are the spark notes: (which I never used in college, honor code, people!) In my sophomore year, I began running in earnest with a Timex watch that just told the time, an iPod mini loaded up with a lot of punk rock. My favorite route was from Bryan down Richmond road to the turn for the back way to the gym and then to Bryan through campus. I had no idea how long it was, but I always felt like an olympian every time I ran it. 

Fast forward to 2017. I’ve graduated with my master’s degree in telling fart jokes for a living, and I have run a handful of half marathons, 10ks, 5ks, and even a triathlon. I even have, wait for it, running friends. 

In 2018 I decided to run my first marathon. Training for a marathon is like having a full-time job on top of your full-time job. So, while I trained a lot of the time with friends, I also ran for hours, and hours, and…hours by myself. I started to write jokes about what was happening to me during marathon training—the chafing, the hunger, the lost toenails, you know, all the real glamorous stuff. 

Then one day, shortly after successfully running the Chicago Marathon, I was joking with a running friend of mine, and he asked me what I did with all the jokes I wrote in my head while I ran. To be honest, I wasn’t doing a lot with them at the time, and it seemed like maybe I should. So one thing led to another, and the Instagram account, Your Best Running Friend, was born. 

Your Best Running Friend (@yourbestrunningfriend) started as an account to put the jokes and characters I wrote in my head on the run. It was an amalgamation of the “every runner,” it was as far away from me personally as you could get. But then, in the absolute dumpster fire year 2020, I realized as auditions ground to a halt, I desperately needed a place to be creative, an outlet that was more about me and my running experiences, something a bit more personal. 

So, two years and a ton of jokes and personal insights later, this crazy journey has allowed me to make over 12,000 new online friends (WHAT?) and partner with incredible brands like La Joie Skin Care, Coros, and Goodr, to name a few. I feel so lucky that I followed what started as an excellent way to clear my head and feel unstoppable in college turned into a way to be creative daily, push me out of my comfort zone, meet new people, and find my voice. 

And look, I am by no means a “good” runner (what even is a good runner, anyway?) I run because I love it, I don’t pay attention to my time, and I will probably never win a race. But if you’re scared to do something, I urge you to step up to the starting line and race towards your dreams. I did, and you can run towards them too. 

Follow along with Chloe on Instagram, connect with her on LinkedIn, and support her Etsy shop.

Categories
Alumni Owned Business

Taking the Leap

 By Sofia Lenore Fowler ’14

In the spring of 2019, I took the leap and became a small business owner and watercolor artist full time. Painting had always filled my evenings & weekends with joy and color, and for years I had thought about turning my hobby into something more. Leaving the stability of a position in collegiate admissions was definitely nerve-racking, but it was with skills learned at William & Mary and the support of colleagues and friends (many also W&M alumni) that my dream of being a full time artist came to fruition. 

Unlike many industries and careers, there is no specific formula for becoming a freelance artist. Each creative entrepreneur’s income streams, business models, and products are totally different, but we each work out very individual ways to grow while staying true to our style and abilities. Taking the leap to start Sofia Lenore Watercolors, LLC (sofialenore.com) requires me to continually educate myself in all aspects of business. While I had the phenomenal creative outlet of Art & Art History as one of my majors at W&M, I didn’t actually take any entrepreneurship classes. That said, I feel that the Tribe community is full of self-starters. Being surrounded by so many driven, passionate scholars at the College taught me how to uncover the knowledge I needed through initiative, dedication, and research. There have been many many hours of research on web design, taxes, starting an LLC, contracts, becoming a wholesale vendor, financial planning, marketing, search engine optimization, and budgeting while I was getting my business off the ground.  

There have also been multiple projects that have stretched the limits of my experience as a businesswoman. Within 3 months of starting my business, I was able to pull from my experience supporting publishing projects as an intern at the Muscarelle as I collaborated with an author to illustrate a children’s book inspired by her two daughters. In 2020 I also had the chance to collaborate with William & Mary Admission to help illustrate a campus map sent out to applying high school seniors. My husband (whom I jokingly refer to as my Board of Directors) and I have a lot of “I’ve never done this before, but wouldn’t it be SO COOL?! Let’s make this happen!” conversations and it’s joyful and exhilarating each and every time.  

Freelance work also requires the ability to pivot and adapt quickly. For example, in January & February 2020, I had prepped my business to focus heavily on creating watercolor work and paper goods for large scale events and weddings. Little did I know that the pandemic was on the way, and that the nature of being a creative supporting weddings and events would change drastically. With events no longer a viable income stream, I looked to find other ways that my artwork and experience might still be valued.  

Through Sofia Lenore Watercolors, I’ve especially loved the difference each day brings and all of the clients I collaborate with. A single week could see me creating layouts for a bridal shower invitation suite, illustrating a classic family recipe, and then painting corgis dressed up in Harry Potter costumes for a client’s wife. I am so grateful my leadership roles at William & Mary helped prepare me for such a client facing role. When I was a Tour Guide and Senior Interviewer, I always reminded myself that this visit experience could be the one time that a high school student makes an impression of W&M, and I had to make it special. Similarly at every AMP event I worked, I wanted to make the event fun and memorable for each student that came. I think of my art projects the same way by putting my best effort into each work of art and client experience so that we can create something together to fill their home with love and joy.  

If any of you out there are thinking of making the leap to be your own boss – YOU GOT THIS. I wish you all of the success in the world as you make the transition and reach your goals. Remember to never stop educating yourself; stay flexible and adapt within your industry; and find strong support in your Tribe.  

No matter where you are this holiday season, share your messages of gratitude and upload to Twitter or Instagram using #wmYuleLog and you’ll be automatically entered in a random giveaway of an exclusive festive W&M Wren Building watercolor print designed by me! 

Follow along with Sophia on Instagram and connect with her on LinkedIn.

Categories
Tribe Athletics

Tribe Hoops 2021-22 Season

By Julian Boatner ’14

Before I get into this coming season I want to briefly talk about last season and some of the things we dealt with as a basketball team during Covid stoppages, cancellations, etc. Our team underwent a lot of adversity whether it was team meetings via zoom, games being cancelled, or having to go into quarantine. What many people don’t realize is the toll Covid took on our players mentally. It was extremely important that as a coaching staff, we were checking in on our players to make sure they were okay.  I say all of this as a preface to our current Sophomore class only getting to play 17 games last season (a normal basketball season is around 30 games) and they just recently played their first game in front of fans. When you have a young/inexperienced team growing pains are natural, but it’s going to be our jobs to try and get them to a point where they’re playing their best basketball in March. 

Shifting to this season, we are very excited to have more of a “normal” season and to see what this team can accomplish! This summer we got to work on our team chemistry as well as getting stronger for the season ahead. We added three freshmen to the roster, including Tyler Rice, Julian Lewis, and Langdon Hatton.  Brandon Carroll is also new to the Tribe, a graduate student currently completing his MBA. These guys have spent the summer getting acclimated with their teammates and our staff. 

As you can see from our first couple of games, we’re playing a lot of Freshman and Sophomores this season. I want to highlight three guys that will be ones to watch this year and that we’re excited to see grow this season. Connor Kochera, a sophomore wing from Chicago, IL and the reigning Rookie of the Year in the CAA. We’re hoping he continues to build on his success from last year. Tyler Rice, a freshman from Columbia, SC is another player we’re very excited about and you can see what we’re talking about if you saw anything from his debut game at Wake Forest. He’s going to be a guy that can create offense for his teammates as well as for himself. Ben Wight, a redshirt sophomore from Columbus, OH. Last season he struggled with foul trouble and the overall size of his opposition. Ben has one of the highest motors I’ve ever coached, there isn’t going to be a lot of players who play harder than him. 

I’m so lucky to be back coaching at the school that has done so much for me in my life! Looking forward to passing those experiences on to my current players. I hope to see some of you all at the games this season, and if you are in attendance, please don’t hesitate to say hello! 

Follow along with Julian on Instagram and connect with him on LinkedIn.

Categories
Maintaining Connections

Life After

By Adam Siegel ’15

The first year out of college was both exciting and terrifying for me. I, like many of my friends, moved to a new city to start a new job, where I had to do new things like figure out the difference between an HMO, PPO, and HDP. There was an overwhelming amount of change happening, and on top of everything, I was beginning to feel some existential dread about my career. I didn’t yet know how to do my job (or if I even liked my job) and all I could think was, “Is this it? Is this what the rest of life is?”

The only thing that made it feel manageable was being surrounded by a community of great friends from William and Mary, most of whom were going through the exact same challenges and asking themselves the same questions.

In those first few years, we all got better at our jobs, navigated the healthcare system, and discovered what got us excited about work. We met up for happy hours to commiserate over how much we missed college, and to remind each other why we chose our respective career paths. We celebrated the big moments–engagements, promotions–and the small ones. Each year we would gather for “Friendsgiving”, and it felt like just as much of a family celebration as any traditional Thanksgiving dinner. The highs and lows continued, but we didn’t endure them alone.

My William and Mary circle has continued to expand over the years, no matter what city I move to. Some of these new friends have come through mutual connections, and others I’ve reconnected with during Homecoming. This annual pilgrimage back to Williamsburg is a chance for me to reinvigorate and re-center myself. In the midst of my constantly changing life, Williamsburg is familiar, my second home. Maybe more importantly, my time back on campus helps me to remember that there are more important things than promotions, new apartments, or the next job. Everyone always says it’s the people that make William and Mary so special, and it’s true. But sometimes I need to be back where it all started to remember that and reconnect.

The legacy of William and Mary continues to grow. Every year we welcome a new graduating class to the alumni community, who will face their own challenges. The last two years have been a time of unrelenting change in everyone’s life. I know that after 18 months of virtual connection, I need to surround myself with William and Mary friends again, just like I did after graduation. That’s why I am so excited for my 5+1 Year Reunion. I can’t wait to eat a Cheese Shop sandwich, walk through CW, and hold court on the terrace once again. I can’t wait to see some old friends, and maybe–hopefully, probably–make some new ones as well.

Follow along with Adam on Instagram and connect with him on LinkedIn.

Categories
Get Involved Undergraduate Experience

William & Mary Was a Means to an End

By Lynelle Haugabrook ’14

We’re all aware of the reputation that proceeds us before answering, “where did you go to school?” The rigorous academic workload coupled with the influence of our alumni across the world make William & Mary a force to be reckoned with at any social gathering. I proudly waved my green and gold flag outside of the College but, on the inside, it felt hollow.

I had a non-traditional college experience. I traded dorm life and shared spaces for a house and room of my own off campus. Instead of keggers and parties, I was often working nights and weekends. I didn’t feel like W&M was my #Tribe until four years after graduation when I was introduced to our local alumni chapter.  

Morgaine Beck was president at the time. We met at an alumni event where she invited me to join the local board… and the rest is history.

Since that fateful day, I have a newfound love for William & Mary. I discovered a group of people who matched me and countless others simply by sharing an alma mater. I attended shared business cards with my breakfast, watched the numbers grow on #OneTribeOneDay, cast my holly woes onto the yule log, and even served a term as president. The sense of community I found in our alumni chapter was what had been missing for me at the College.

For those of you (like me) who think you missed the boat now that your days as a T.W.A.M.P. are long behind you, it’s not too late. Sometimes all it takes is an online networking hour or follow up message on LinkedIn to make a connection. Whether you’re looking for a new career, to expand your network, a recommendation, or a couch to crash on when you’re overseas, never underestimate the power of connecting with our Tribe – at school, online, and in life.

Connect with Lynelle on LinkedIn.

Categories
Undergraduate Experience

The Secret to Life After College

By Jack Edgar ’15

Life is weird. No one has the answers. Hug the friends you make along the way. 

I graduated from William & Mary in 2015, which somehow puts me on the back half of my Young Guarde experience. The fact that I graduated over 6 years ago now feels completely insane. How could I have been out of college for longer than I was in college? To be closer to 30 than closer to my college years? Everyone will say that they met their friends for life at William & Mary, and that rings true for me as well. I have the best friends in the world and I owe it all to that place (they’re probably better than your friends, but we don’t have to have that debate). What they don’t tell you, though, is that this gift is a double-edged sword; one day you’ll look up at your friends – feeling as though no time has passed – and realize that it actually just feels that way. Time moves alarmingly fast, as it turns out (My friends don’t look old. This is just a metaphor).

I wanted to compare where I am now in my life with where I thought I’d be. But the truth of the matter is, I had no idea what life after college would look like for me. I was always a high achiever in school – “most likely to succeed”, etc. – but the achievement, the destination, the endpoint, was always a college degree. I don’t know why. I think making it past that threshold of adulthood always felt like the right destination. For someone who carried so much stress and pressure around, and dove headfirst into everything he did, thinking any further out felt too difficult to comprehend. I always figured that the next assignment for me to tackle would come, the same way that it always had in my incredibly linear life. After elementary school, you achieve in middle school. And then, high school, and finally, on to higher education! And so as graduation neared, I found myself realizing that no one was going to chart the next course for me, but me. And that was a terrifying proposition.

And so I charted a course. But, I didn’t go very far. My first job out of college was spent advancing a place that had already given me so much. I worked for William & Mary in Alumni Engagement, contributing to the university’s For the Bold campaign, all while wondering when I would be bold enough to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I found the next step in my career through a William & Mary friend, and it was the skills learned at that new job that prepared me for my role at my current agency. Embarrassingly recently, something clicked for me: I was already living my life. I was looking for another endpoint to work towards, but college was never an endpoint at all. It was the starting line. 

This summer I was able to travel a bit to see some close college friends that the pandemic had robbed me of seeing for some time. I was thinking about the post-college journey that we all had been on since walking across that stage together. Taken at a birdseye view, it looks completely chaotic: there have been new jobs, career changes, cross-country moves, break-ups and engagements, marriages and divorces, new schools, illness and the loss of loved ones. And suddenly no one’s post-college life looked especially linear – no one had accurately charted their entire life. But one True North for each of us had been us – the William & Mary friends who push, console, connect, and laugh with us. And looking at each of my friends, we’re in the best places of our lives thus far (global pandemic notwithstanding). It didn’t happen when we were handed the diploma, and it didn’t happen all at once, but I’m proud of all my friends and me for the path that has taken us here, and the paths we have yet to embark on. 

I spent a little time after I graduated wondering if I had missed out on some secret tool that everyone else had found at college, some instrument that equipped them to crack the code and do life right. In hindsight, that was simply the desire of a task-oriented, Type-A personality, searching for direction in a post-college world that can both look and get pretty foggy. But William & Mary actually had set me up for life. Yes, I feel like I learned how to learn there, preparing me for whatever direction my future takes. But probably more importantly, it gave me the friends that I could look up at – in between the starts and stops of this nonlinear journey through life – feeling like no time has passed, but proud of the time that has.  

Follow along with Jack on Instagram and connect with him on LinkedIn.

Categories
Undergraduate Experience

(Still!) Young Reflections

By Amalhin Shek ’13

‘Back to school’ carries different meanings, even within generations. For some, new students, lab members, or peers; while for those of us outside of academia, the end of the fiscal year or arrival of that last quarter- a time to tie up loose ends and reflect on the successes and challenges that made or broke us. In that spirit of reflection- read on for a few of the William and Mary perks that persist in the life of a young-ish member of Young Guarde.

Community

Coming from the DMV to Williamsburg gave many of us NOVA (or DC/MD) folks a reprieve of sorts from the mixing bowl messiness and intensity of the area. Orientation itself, while kitschy to some, in and of itself helped cement lifelong friendships. It helped each of us build our first microcosms of community within and across our freshman halls in the safety of quiet, muggy Williamsburg- shout out to my fellow Barrett 3rd west ladies!

My own experience at the college began prior to move-in. I spent an evening on campus after being admitted as part of the Office of Admissions center for multicultural recruitment’s Escape visit. During that weekend I made my first set of friends at the college, freshmen living in Dupont; members of SASA, MSA, and APO; and admissions office interns who would go on to become mentors and lifelong friends. During that same weekend, I made two major decisions. Critical of course, was saying yes to the admissions offer. The second came after one of my first conversations with a multicultural recruitment intern who told me all about SOMOS, the Student Organization for Medical Outreach and Sustainability. Committing to apply into the program may have indirectly gotten me to where I am in my career more than ten years later.

The welcoming I experienced during that one weekend and orientation are what make a William and Mary alum who they are. It’s the openness, mentorship, and familiarity that to this day members of the student, alumni, faculty, and staff community live through their daily actions. Whether to support me through a parent’s funeral, that next career pívot, or to celebrate life’s milestones-I can always count on those in my William and Mary family. 

Inquiry:

From the first freshman seminar session with professor Scholnick to my last Maternal and Child Health lectures with Dr. Buchanan-questioning the status quo and digging deep into the why’s of policies, processes, and myriad human behaviors were ingrained throughout my experience. With Dr. Aday, and during each SOMOS seminar session and trip to Santo Domingo I was challenged to reflect on the intended and unintended consequences of what we thought we were accomplishing- a way of thinking that shows up at work every day. In managing infectious disease programming  and supporting the COVID-19 response in Latin America, every single day, I get to consider how our technical and political decisions may impact those on the ground and directly affected for both the short and long term. I’m a firm believer that the challenges we experienced in and out of the classroom make William and Mary grads likelier to go out into the world with an eye towards disrupting the status quo and a heart disposed to serve…


Service

Which brings me to the last emblematic perk and trait William and Mary helped myself and so many others hone. Whether it is in educating and building up tomorrow’s leaders by making foreign language learning accessible; advocating  for a safer and healthier planet; or humanely communicating the decisions made inside the US Government Machine- if there is one thing we seek out no matter what, it is any chance to be of service to our fellow humans. Daily, I’m impressed by, and so proud of the ways in which my fellow alumni go out of their way to get at the root of challenges to find the most socially just solutions. 

While I might not have a crystal ball view into the future, I know I’ll have the support of my William and Mary community, a never ending need to question the world, and a desire to always be in service of our global community, as we collectively work towards a more livable world.

Connect with Amalhin on LinkedIn.