When I first was accepted to UVA, I was less than thrilled to say the least. My Dad went here, my Grandfather went here, and being from Richmond it seemed like everyone and their mother either went here or knows someone that did. I didn’t think I wanted to be a part of a culture in which there was an attitude of Bean Boots for fall, Barbour jackets for winter, and Jack Rogers for spring or GTFO. First and foremost, I don’t have the budget for that, and, secondly, anyone who has actually worn Jack Rogers knows that they are the most heinously uncomfortable shoes to ever grace the earth.

On my first trip to check out the “grounds,” as I was corrected time and time again, I was absolutely flabbergasted by the amount of pastels I saw. Who could possibly own that many pastels? But amid the horrific parade of Easter eggs, I realized that basically everyone was smiling. I could not understand what made them all so happy. I mean, there were even people smiling to themselves as they walked to class! As a high school senior I knew everything there is to know about everything, and so I was confident that no one with a smile on could possibly be going to class. But that, it would seem, is the Corner Culture. 

There is something in the air here that just makes you smile sometimes. When it’s sunny out and the lawn is packed with slack liners and sunbathers, we smile. But similarly, when it has just rained and the lawn is a swamp, we smile because the reflection of the Rotunda in those massive puddles is just too beautiful not to be appreciated. Sometimes it’s the dozens of children running up and down “Mr. Jefferson’s Lawn” or the hundreds of other high school students coming to see their dream school.

Looking back, I think they must be smarter than me, not just because their SAT scores are probably higher, but because they get it. They understand that UVA is the most special place on earth any day of the week, and that to say we have a home here is a blessing that I don’t think any of us can truly appreciate until we are forced to leave. So, thank you, UVA, for helping me appreciate the beauty of our dear home, and for teaching me that we are really and truly better than every other Virginia school because we are Wahoos.