Senior Reflections

Hollins seniors prepare to say goodbye

BY.JESSICA DIFFER

Last week, Annetay Henderson ‘05 donned a dress bought at Goodwill, stepped onto the ballroom dance floor at the Jefferson Center and grooved along with a dozen of her closest senior friends at the annual Hollins Cotillion. She sipped cocktails with President Nancy Gray, and chatted with fellow seniors Amanda Shideler and Kathryn Herndon about NEFA parties, fence painting and midnight hikes.

“Before I never really cared about things like cotillions,” said Henderson. “But this year I wanted to be here to have fun with all of my friends because we probably won’t have many more opportunities.”

Henderson is not the only senior feeling the end drawing near. As the academic year draws to a close, seniors at Hollins University look back on their time at Hollins and reflect upon the decision they made four years ago to pursue their education at a small woman’s liberal arts colleges in the heart of Virginia.

More than 200 new students arrived on the Hollins University campus in August of 2001. Four years later 198 students prepare to graduate and enter the world outside of the Hollins gates.

April Seymore ‘05 is contemplating her future working in graphic advertising in Cork, Ireland.

“I really want to embrace the time that I still have,” said Seymore. “But unfortunately I have to focus on getting a job and preparing to move, so my stress level keeps me from enjoying things as much as I would like.”

Preparation for the future is on the minds of a lot of seniors. Though Megan Anderson ‘05 values the education that she has received at Hollins, she feels that the school is lacking when it comes to the career development center.

“I just took one of those tests that tells you about your personality and suggests an occupation that would fit you,” said Anderson. “It said I would be a disgruntled professor with a problem with authority, that’s not really encouraging. I feel like we should have more resources available.”

Some seniors aren’t departing at all. Instead, they have chosen to stay at Hollins for another semester, or even a year, so that they can take advantage of resources like the Hollins Abroad program. After hearing about the wonderful experiences of students who studied in Ghana last fall, Meaghan Overton ‘05 made the decision to stay to participate in the program.

“The abroad program is one of the major selling point of Hollins,” Overton said. “I decided that I should take advantage of it, because opportunities like this don’t come along every day.”

Hollins University has many points of interest that admissions counselors highlight to prospective students, among them the Riding Program and the Dance Program, which have received national recognition and the creative writing program, which is ranked as one of the best in the country. When seniors were asked if Hollins met their expectations, there was a mix of answers.

“My first year at Hollins, I thought that I had made a mistake,” said Courtney Hamilton ‘05. “I transferred for my sophomore year, and after a year away from Hollins, I transferred back. It turned out that Hollins had changed me so much in one year, that I fit Hollins.”

Some students reflected on how Hollins gave them a new outlook on life and helped them feel open to a new course of life. Would-be senior, Janine Mongold left after her sophomore year at Hollins to join the workforce but she looks back on her time at Hollins with great fondness.

“I learned to think in new ways, and I discovered that maybe college wasn’t right for what I want to do with my life, but I never would have had the courage to admit that if it wasn’t for the lessons that I learned at Hollins,” said Mongold.

Mongold does regret that she won’t be standing on the stage beside her friends on May 22, but she is not alone. Alumna Balli Jaswal ’04 chose to graduate a year earlier than her classmates. While she is enjoying her time in graduate school at Washington and Lee, she admits that she does get teary when she thinks of her friends walking at graduation.

“I am so proud of all of them,” said Jaswal. “We shared some really wonderful times together and I wish that I could be sitting with them holding hands and exchanging smiles, but they know that in my heart I am with them.”