Move in Day 2010

My mom reminded me this morning that it was ten years ago this weekend that I officially moved to Sweet Briar to start this crazy journey.  So this is what a whole decade of adulthood feels like!

Today has been a great day–the majority of our incoming students are here and getting settled in, and campus seems to be waking up again after a long summer of hibernation.  2014ers are happy and excited to be here, and we only saw a few tears at check-in–good start all the way around.

Tonight we admissions folks are going to gather at House 1 on campus for our annual Move In Day celebration.  Another great class moved in and getting ready to make their mark on campus, and another class is out there waiting for us to come and get them.  In the life of Admissions, this time of year is incredibly exciting

So Holla, Holla 2014 Vixens!  Welcome home

Cake, Conversation, and Fainting, Oh My!

Yesterday evening was the Roanoke Area Back to School event, and what an incredible time it was!  We were joined by two prospective families, a very special returning student, CF ’12, and her Mom, FF ’80, and our always wonderful and gracious hostest, LD ’86.  With such an intimate group Mary and I decided just to roll with conversation and questions, which then turned into one of the most comprehensive Sweet Briar Presentations I’ve been to in quite some time.  Funny how that works, huh?  And “ending” that portion of the evening on a Monty Python and the Holy Grail quip wasn’t half bad either

 (Greatest Plague line from a Comedy!)

The conversations that happened over the beautiful cake that Wendy Coffey of Coffey Cakes did for us was amazing as well–CF was telling stories about her experiences now, FF and LD shared about their experiences back in the day, and we heard a little bit from our students about why Sweet Briar is attractive to them, and what they are into and excited about now.  Love, Love, LOVE nights like this one!

But in true GAL fashion, the little black cloud started to rear it’s ugly head.  Towards the end of the conversation and evening my legs started feeling a little funny, and then I started getting a little figety, and then my stomach lurched.  At that point I started to run back through everything I had eaten throughout the day to figure out why I was feeling like this–oatmeal, banana, tea, coffee, cake.  Crap.  As the room then started to spin and start to go black I realized that somewhere in between our staff retreat in the morning and the IT call about iPads and then leaving for Roanoke, I’d somehow had missed lunch and had cake for dinner.  Poor life choice, I know.  Thankfully Mary scooted the families out and FF and LD got me to a chair before I hit the floor, but leave it to me to end things with bang.

As mortifying as this part of the night was, it was an incredible reminder of how much I love Sweet Briar women.  Whether it’s the girls your with throughout your time here, or whether its alumnae opening their homes, or whether it’s the mom of a current student who happens to be an alumna and knows how to help you not pass out and embarrass yourself more, Sweet Briar women take care of one another, and for that I am alway grateful (and in debt!).

Back-to-School Junkie

There are a few things that still make me homesick–60 degree weather in December, really crisp days when the leaves start to change, mulled cider in fall, cancelling school for more than 2 inches of snow, deep New England accents, and watching the Red Sox on the tv.

This time of year, though, I get “Back-to-School Sick.”  I graduated from SB almost six years ago,  and I still have to buy at least one new outfit and one pack of good pens right around the start of school.  I even took my husband “back to school” shopping this year, and I’m pretty sure that he, and the store clerk (once she found out that we don’t have children, just dogs) thought I was crazy.  That’s right, folks–My name is GAL, and I’m a back-to-school junkie.

Admitting it is the first step, right?

But I just love it–always have, always will.  There is something about a clean slate, a new start, and the excitement and potential that this will be the BEST year ever.  You’re agenda is fresh, the pages of your notebooks are clean, your backpack is organized, your pencils are sharp–we’re putting our best foot forward, people!  I had a teacher in High School that always said, “on the first day of class, everyone starts with an A.  It’s what you do from here that ensures you keep that A.”

Today is the first day of classes for our students, and I’m jealous–they all have their first day of college outfits on, and they are starting off fresh.  Especially for the first years, it doesn’t matter what they did or how they did in high school.  Starting college is one of the cleanest slates you can ever have–no one knows you, and the only expectation is for you to do your best.  What a truly awesome gift to yourself  (and I mean awesome not in the totally rad awesome sort of way, but by the true meaning of the word, to be filled with awe).

So to all of you out there who get a first day of school, embrace it, cherish it and take it all in!  This year absolutly can be your best year yet.