The Office of Diversity and Inclusion at Washington and Lee University hosts an amazing dinner every Parents and Family Weekend. Students who come from diverse backgrounds (in every sense of the word) come and enjoy food and fellowship with friends, professors, staff, and if you're lucky enough, family. This year's event broke the records, with over 400 guests RSVP'ed for. There is always an international fashion show put on by students, and about four seniors are asked to give senior reflections. I was honored to be asked to speak this year and kept it a surprise for my parents to find out only a few minutes before we sat down at a table near the front. Because I hope my words resonate with others, here's what I said:

Hi everyone – first I just wanted to thank Dean Futrell and everyone else who organizes this dinner every year. A lot of hard work goes into it and it’s always such a great event.

Also thank you to all of you for coming out here tonight, whether it’s your first time or your last.

So, my name is Kiki Spiezio and I’m a senior. Looking back on these last three years, I can only stand back in awe and amazement. Often I find myself wondering, how did I get here?

The last three years have been incredible, and my college experience has been better than I could have ever imagined. From the first time I stepped foot on campus until now, the place has changed a lot – though so have I.

Throughout high school, I didn’t know how I was going to get to college, but I knew I was going somehow. I spent hours Google-ing scholarships and finally found QuestBridge, which seemed to answer many of my prayers.

As a senior, I remember getting one pamphlet in the mail from Washington and Lee, that described the Honor System. It was such a unique concept to me – a place that trusted its community so much that exams are unproctored, and people leave their things around campus. A place where your reputation and your word mattered. The school sounded incredible, so I ranked it in the QuestBridge process and found out November 30th of my senior year that I was coming here.

I told my mom the bad news first, that I was going to be moving pretty far away from home – but when I told her I got a full ride to school, the feeling was priceless. I decided to start looking into the school I was going to, and then I found out I really didn’t know much about it. It was a lot smaller than I thought, it was a lot more Greek than I thought, and it was a lot further away from DC than I thought. It also didn’t have the major I thought I was going to declare.

When I first visited campus in April, I was overwhelmed. I remember complaining to my parents that it was nothing like what I imagined, that it was a huge party school and I didn’t realize what I got myself into. I felt like I didn’t belong, and like everyone around me knew it.

My parents tried to reassure me that any school could be like that, but that any school could also be what I made it. Now, almost four years later, I know how right my parents were.

Washington and Lee was intimidating for me at first, and there was more than one day when I’d call my parents and say how much I didn’t want to be here. But now, I walk around the place with the same feelings of confidence and love as the kids who come from W&L legacies – because this school belongs to me as much as it does to them. W&L belongs to the diverse and nontraditional students as much as it does to the kids who have always known W&L was the place for them.

Figuring out how to find my place at W&L was a process. I came to W&L as a part of the Bonner program, and when I met the people involved with the Shepherd Poverty Studies program, I knew that was the reason I was here. I could make a difference in other people’s lives, and I could become a stronger advocate for the social justice that I wanted to see in the world.

I have been able to take classes from all across the college, and I have had all of my first jobs here (from being a Phonathon caller to an intramural ref to a writing center tutor and a language labs assistant). I have also learned the harder things, like how to ask for help, how to network, how to fail and get back up, and how to say "no, I just can’t take another position on right now, but here’s someone even better you should reach out to."

Looking back, I can see how much W&L has given me.

I have been able to travel all around the US and have been fortunate enough to visit southern Spain, China, and work with Haitian migrants in the Dominican Republic. And, who knew that the closest friends I would make in rural Virginia would turn out to be mostly international students?

My worldviews have been significantly challenged and expanded.The professors I had in class pushed me to think in different ways, and also serve as dedicated mentors. Lexington and Rockbridge County have become a second home to me, one that has taken good care of me over the last three years.

Of course, all of the things I have been able to do have come with some sacrifice. Since I left home for freshman year, I think the longest I have been home was three weeks. It’s hard to be away from family for so long, and it’s hard to keep up with two lives – being wrapped up in all of the college things here while also staying updated on everything that’s happening at home. I have missed all of my sister’s volleyball games and almost all of her gymnastics meets, and I haven’t been home for anyone’s birthday or anniversary or our adoption days in a long time. But I know that no matter where I am, my family is with me, supporting me and rooting for me. W&L has given me a chance to make a name for myself, and to make my family proud. And for that I am incredibly grateful, and I thank my school and all of the opportunities it’s given me as well as my family, who are here now.

I also want to thank the others who have helped me become the person I am today, as cliché as it sounds. My friends, roommates, peers, professors, dining staff, and others – you all have made such a difference in my life.

For the underclassmen still trying to find their way, reach out – because I know how much having upperclassmen role models and mentors meant for me. And for the upperclassmen who still struggle with being here, I urge you to think of the good things about this place along with the things you still want to see improved.

I believe that things happen for a reason, and I – like all of you – are here for a reason. W&L is a place that I hope you all remember fondly because there is a lot here to love.

Thank you.