Single White Unemployed Female: Lots to Miss: One Senior Tells The Things She'll Pine for After Graduation

In honor of the “Best and Worst of Mary Washington” being featured in this issue, I thought I’d give my “Things I’ll Miss the Most About UMW,” in no particular order. Since there’s only a few weeks until graduation, I might as well begin by remembering the good (“Things I Won’t Miss” will follow next week).

The professors. I can’t tell you how much I owe to the faculty that has taught me these four years. Whether it was making me realize that English was the right major for me or reassuring me that it was okay to not have everything figured out at 22, there’s a reason why I spend way too much time discussing the approachability of UMW professors with my tour groups. Though they may not make much, they have certainly made more than enough of an impression on my life.

Downtown Fredericksburg. As I write this at Hyperion, while drinking a Monkeylicious, which only cool kids like me used to order because it wasn’t on the menu my freshman year, I realize how much I’m going to miss living just blocks away from the mother of George Washington’s home and being able to consider “antiquing” one of my hobbies. I’m also going to miss being able to have Pilsner Urquell on tap at Cap Ale, fish tacos at Soup & Taco, and getting lost in Riverby’s.

Campus. I first visited the UMW campus on Halloween of my senior year of high school. Autumn is my favorite season, and when I toured that day, I felt like I had finally found the small liberal arts campus I had been dreaming of. Whether it’s sunbathing on Ball Circle or benchsitting and people-watching on Campus Walk, I sometimes forget how lucky we are until I visit a friend’s campus and see the unfortunate architecture of the buildings built in the 1970s.

The Office of Admissions. Whether it was baking me a cake for my birthday or just making sure everything was okay, it has been a pleasure to work for these people since my sophomore year. They put up with my crazy life and overly-enthusiastic personality.

Clubs. Though there were points where I was a little too involved during my time here, many of the best opportunities and closest friendships came from the organizations I joined and started. My sophomore year, a few friends and I decided to start another a cappella group on campus. Since then it has been a series of many ups and a few downs, but I feel like I have 15 brothers and sisters, in addition to my biological sister, all of whom I’ll miss. I also decided to write for this paper my senior year, and got to write my own column this semester. You don’t always find these opportunities elsewhere.

Friendships. I guess I can sum this section up with that line from the musical “Wicked”: “Because I knew you, I have been changed for good.”

And finally…

Free stuff. ‘Nuff said.