Lois and Holly Collins got the good seats. “We’re front row girls,” Lois said.
She and her daughter, a West Springfield High School senior, were up and at ’em early Friday morning, a beautiful spring day on the University of Virginia’s iconic Lawn, studded with trees just unfurling their new leaves.
They’d arrived for the first of the University’s four daylong , designed to help admitted students decide whether or not to join 鶹ƽ Class of 2030.
“It’s such a beautiful campus, and it has all the right things for me, especially my major. I want a major in accounting,” Holly Collins said enthusiastically. “Hopefully, I get into the Commerce School. I just really connected with it the first time I came, and I was determined to come here.”
Lois and Holly Collins pose with Cavman before Days on the Lawn gets underway. “I wanted to apply to UVA because it’s such a great school. It’s a great public school in Virginia,” Holly said. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
Does that mean Collins is undecided? “It just means I wanted the opportunity to just come back and see it again,” she said.
“She’s very decided,” Mom chimed in. “We came to Days on the Lawn because it’s an experience and we wanted to kind of enjoy the hype, if you will, the excitement. It’s part of the buildup to heading here in the fall and really being able to understand what the campus – what Grounds – offers and a little bit about the culture, the vibe and the experience.”
The Cavalier Marching Band was vibing hard. They marched onto the Lawn, launching into “Rock & Roll, Part II” – better known as the “Hey Song” – punctuated by chants of “UVA! Go Hoos Go!” that hyped the crowd.
Exploration
High school senior Trevor Tiberio of Fredericksburg was feeling it. “I’m just really excited to be on the Lawn, and I really wanted to come and explore. I love exploring,” he said. Like Collins, he’s already enrolled.
Senior Associate Vice President and Dean of Students Nicole Hall welcomes admitted students to Grounds. “The thing that makes us so excited and so honored that you are considering UVA is that each of you, in your own way, brings unique talents, new skills, achievements and dreams.” (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
Exploration was the theme of Senior Associate Vice President and Dean of Students Nicole Hall’s welcome remarks.
“I tend to think of your time here as a great adventure. And what I love is that it means that you can chart your own path,” she said. “Literally, there won’t be any two individuals who will have the same adventure here at UVA. There are endless opportunities for you to tap.”
Academics, she said, are not the only factors that distinguish the University. The surrounding community, the Blue Ridge Mountains and the historic sites in Central Virginia, she said, also set UVA apart.
“I know that you have been looking at other universities and you likely have hard decisions that you need to make ahead, but I hope some of what I’ve shared has helped to remind you of what truly is unique about UVA,” Hall said. “I hope that you can now, even more so, understand not only how you can enrich this place, but how this place will be able to enrich you.”
There are three remaining Days on the Lawn sessions: April 13, 18 and 20. Spaces are still open for April 20.
Saira Licht, who was on the Lawn having her graduation photos taken ahead of next month’s Final Exercises, reflects on seeing newly admitted students gather where she once stood as a high school senior. Her advice to new students is to savor every moment, because time at UVA “is going to go super-fast.” (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
Looking back and ahead
Before the 1,300 attendees began filling the white chairs facing the Rotunda, the sun shone brightly on the east side of the barrel-shaped building while fourth-year students in caps and gowns posed for graduation photos on the portico.
