Ava Wolsborn likes a little chaos. As the third of four children growing up in Fairfax, the fourth-year University of Virginia student is accustomed to a bit of disorder. It’s one of the reasons she wanted to live on the Lawn after years as a resident adviser.
“I learned so much from all of my siblings, growing up alongside them, and the housing communities at UVA also surround you with all these people you can learn from,” Wolsborn, this year’s senior resident of the Lawn, said in an interview before her fellow Lawnies moved in on Friday. “I’ve never shied away from chaos.”
Wolsborn poses for a photo inside her Lawn room. She decorated one wall with prints of flowers representing the states each of her siblings lives in. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)
“Chaos” might not have been the word University founder Thomas Jefferson had in mind when he designed the student residences in the Academical Village. But Wolsborn, a biochemistry major on the premedical track, is living Jefferson’s vision of a learning environment not bound to the classroom.
“All of the other Lawn residents are people who have led their communities, whether that’s on Student Council or in the arts or whatever it might be,” Wolsborn said. “Going into this, I’m thinking, ‘In what ways can these people show me how to be a better leader, a better person?’ It’s the same thing my siblings did for me.”
Ariadna Rodriguez and her mother talk with UVA President Scott Beardsley on the morning of move-in. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)
Each year, hundreds of rising fourth-year students apply for one of the 54 rooms on the Lawn, which are awarded to those who have made significant contributions to University life.
It’s one of the highest honors for a UVA student, even if lucky Lawnies must brave the elements and tourists to trek to the communal bathrooms. They are a part of a community of high-achieving peers, living alongside the distinguished deans and faculty members who reside in adjoining pavilions.
Vice President and Chief Student Affairs Officer Kenyon Bonner stops to chat with the Rodriguez family. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)
As the head “Lawnie,” it will be Wolsborn’s job to ensure residents feel welcome in their new home. Friday morning, as Lawnies began moving in, she received help from University President Scott Beardsley and Vice President and Chief Student Affairs Officer Kenyon Bonner.
Beardsley greeted the newest Lawn residents and passed out notebooks, blankets and bars of Belgian chocolate – a nod to his years spent in Belgium, as well as his wife’s heritage.
Jackson Sleadd, a Louisville, Kentucky, native, carries a couch into his Lawn room with some help from his brother. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)
Under cloudy skies, Lawnies and loved ones toted boxes of stuffed animals, potted plants, a plastic moose head and even a couch into the oldest dorms on Grounds.
Jackson Sleadd, the student representative on the Board of Visitors, wedged a leather couch into his small Lawn room with the help of his mother and brother.
Micah Andrews smiles for a picture in her room on the East Lawn. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)
“I just want to keep my door unlocked and spend as much time here as possible, so I can soak in my last year at UVA,” Sleadd, who studies political and social thought and urban planning, said.
Micah Andrews, a government and economics major from Alta Vista, said she has found a bit of home on the Lawn.
Student Council President Michael Mitchell and his father carry a plastic container to his Lawn room. Mitchell’s favorite furnishing is a bowl his grandfather received in recognition of his four decades of service to the state. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)
“I come from a really small town, where there’s a strong sense of community, and everybody knows everybody. I feel like the Lawn really encompasses that,” she said.
Andrews is a first-generation student and an Echols and Walentas Scholar. Where she’s from, many young people don’t consider college an option, she said. If they do apply to college, most don’t apply to UVA.
The piece of bamboo Karina Arakal holds is a nod to one of the clubs she runs, called Bamboo, which supports sustainable architecture. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)
“There are only a few people from my hometown who’ve attended UVA, so I’m opening my doors most weekends for people to stay with me and tour UVA, because I want them to see they can succeed here. I already have three or four weekends booked,” she said.
Calista Nelson moves into her Lawn room. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)
It was a short journey from Michael Mitchell’s hometown of Crozet to the Lawn. This year’s Student Council president spent part of the morning greeting his new neighbors, in between carrying boxes and Bodo’s bagels to his parents, who helped him move.
“My favorite thing in my room is this bowl from my late grandfather. He got it for 40 years of service as an educator in Virginia, so I’m going to put it on my table and fill it with candy for people,” Mitchell, a commerce major, said.
Mitchell and Arakal move into their respective Lawn rooms, with help from their families. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)
Karina Arakal, a biomedical engineering student from Greenwich, Connecticut, was on a Zoom call for her job at the Foundry, 鶹ƽ hub for student entrepreneurship, when she got her Lawn resident acceptance email from Housing and Residence Life.
“I called my family group chat right away,” Arakal said. “My friend Zach Palazzotto had given my parents a tour of his Lawn room last year, and they just loved how historic it is. My dad is a big fan of the fireplace.”
Scarlett Sullivan, decked out in her new Lawnie robe, crosses to the West Lawn to settle into her new home. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)
Arakal never thought she would live on the Lawn when she transferred to the University for her second year.
“Now that I’m here, I get to sort of have that first-year experience I didn’t have, with a bunch of people all living in one place,” Arakal said. “You hear about all the inconveniences of living on the Lawn, but that gets overshadowed by just how amazing it is.”
