We have only one more week until the last day of classes but I don’t think I want to accept that my first year at Hollins is coming to an end! All around me, there’s this pulsating, vibrant energy as seniors look forward to graduation, we say goodbye to some of our most beloved professors and staff members, and we celebrate end-of-the-year ceremonies.
Reflecting on the year with mentors and friends can always be a moving event. On Sunday, I attended the Cultural and Community Engagement banquet, which honors students active in the religious, service-oriented, and global and community life at Hollins. I was representing SHARE and the Sandusky House but there were members from the various programs at Hollins. Members of the Early Transition Program, participants of the Jamaica Service Project, and representatives of the Diversity Monologue Troupe were some of the many groups present at the banquet. I even had the pleasant opportunity to meet and converse with the host family of study abroad students. The dinner was filled with awesome performances by C&CE members, distribution of senior awards (which were dedicated by the seniors to their mentors), and a speech by President Gray. Attending this banquet was an invaluable experience for me as I rise to the executive positions in both SHARE and Sandusky.
My roommate and I after the C&CE banquet.
Today, I went to another end-of-the-year ceremony: Honors Convocation. This event recognizes high academic achievements by undergraduates, graduates, and Horizon students. Inductees of various honor societies, recipients of departmental honors, and Batten and Hollins Scholars were among the students recognized at the event. In addition, certain departments gave awards to outstanding achievers in the respective disciplines. I received the David L. Longfellow History Prize given to an “outstanding first-year student or sophomore in history.” (It came with a $50 Amazon gift card–sweeeeeet!)
It was very inspiring to receive the award and to see other friends and upperclassmen accept similar honors. As President Gray noted in her address, Honors Convocation reminds us that academic excellence is the core tenet that Hollins is based upon. As the ceremony drew to a close, the class of 2013 chanted the same “Go Green” anthem that had welcomed us freshman in the fall–this time, it was in honor of the retiring professors. To our surprise, the faculty and staff reciprocated the act and began singing as well!
Honors Convocation was an awesome way to end bring the academic year to an end. Now I’m looking forward to Spring Cotillion!!! Can’t wait.
