My Alma Mater, William & Mary

Even though I've been meaning to, I haven't done a Show Us Your Life post in awhile.  But when I read that this week's topic was alma maters, I got very excited, because I LOVE William & Mary and am so proud of my school.  (I wrote most of this back in 2009, so for some of you, a little of it might be familiar.)

See that cannon in the lower left hand corner of the picture?

 That's me on that cannon!  Now where else can you do that?

The Princeton Review once said of William and Mary, my alma mater, that it's "where fun goes to die." And I don't know why, but for some reason that makes me really proud!  With the exception of Spencer, graduating from W&M is my most proud accomplishment.  I can't promise what I'm about to write next is true because I don't remember, but my mom promises that I called her crying the first week of school telling her that I wasn't smart enough to be there and that they must have made a mistake when they let me in.  Chances are, I just blocked that memory clear on out of my head! 

Kappas on Graduation Day 2004

Just received my Diploma, which was written entirely in Latin!  

William and Mary diplomas are written in Latin because we are BIG on tradition and that's how it was done back in 1693.  In the Colonial days of yore, English was still considered "vulgar" and "common;" Latin was the language of the scholars.  It all goes back to the real days of Roman yore, when Latin was the language that united all the learned folk throughout Europe.  Diplomas were written in Latin, the common language of all the educated elite,  as a means of ensuring that your qualified status would be recognized no matter where you were.  

Here are a few fast W&M facts:

• Founded in 1693, it's the Nation's 2nd oldest University
• Located in historic Williamsburg, VA
• Ranked #31out of all the colleges and universities, public and private
• Ranked #3 out all public colleges and universities
• Ranked #1 in Best Value Colleges
• Ranked #1 for Best Small Colleges and Universities
• Ranked #4 for Top Public Colleges
• Ranked #5 in Best Undergraduate Teaching- ahead of Yale and Brown
• The average GPA of an accepted applicant is 4.0
• The average SAT 25%-75% score is 1350-1450
• The average Writing SAT score is 620-710
• They accept only 30% of all their applicants
• Home of the first Honor Code- and let me tell you, it's strict!
• Undergraduate Enrollment is 5,850
• Average GPA of a graduating senior- 2.7 (mine was 3.2)
• Founder of the first Honors Society, Phi Beta Kappa
• Madeleine Albright said the International Studies Department was "perhaps the finest in the nation."
• Famous Graduates include, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, John Tyler, Henry Clay, John Marshall, John Stewart, Glenn Close, Mike Tomlin, Bill Lawrence (Scrubs creator and writer), Perry Ellis, Robert Gates, Wand Michael K. Powell

W&M gets a lot of flack for having geeky students who spend Friday nights in the library. And while I spent many a Friday night studying, I also had the best college experience I could've ever hoped to have. I made the best friends, both from my freshman hall and my sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma. I learned so much while being there and I got to meet (meaning I spoke to them and they spoke back to me) fascinating people, including Henry Kissenger and Margaret Thatcher. 

Statue of Lord Botetourt. You always rub his shoe before a big test or final.

It's hard to believe I graduated in 2004- that just seems so long ago!  My years at W&M were some of the best ones of my life and I'm really hoping Spencer wants to go there so I can relive it all vicariously through her, haha!