The University of South Carolina- The Gamecocks. I was here the first year of my life. My dad had wrapped up grad school and was a new professor here. I don't remember it, but it counts.
Old Dominion University- The Monarchs. I spent most of my early life here, age two until I graduated from high school. My mom and dad both worked here, as did a lot of my closest friends' parents. I got my first summer job here (art and music camp counselor). I spent hours on this campus, using the gym facilities, watching basketball games, doing homework in my parent's offices, and generally just causing mayhem around the place.
Virginia Tech- The Hokies. I spent a very short and very troubled one semester here my first year of college. I wasn't ready, but I went and it was ugly.
Heartland Community College- The Hawks. I took some courses here in between things, after moving out to Illinois when I left Tech. Mostly I did this just to shut my parents up about me being a college drop out. I met some really neat people here though.
Illinois State University- The Redbirds. After a couple of false starts (I got pregnant, I almost failed out the first time) I finally got serious and earned my bachelors and masters degrees here. It was a great school and I had a lot of fun and met a lot of cool and really nice people, especially as a grad student. I was in a great department and had awesome professors. The kidlet was raised her first few years here and got some great breaks through the childcare program on campus.
University of Illinois- The Fighting Illini. I worked here for eight years after graduating from ISU. I took my first real campus job here and it was great to work for a Big 10 school. Good benefits, flexible schedules, nice folks for the most part. But alas, I was not destined to be a midwesterner and needed to return to the east coast where I belong.
William and Mary- The Tribe. I've been here coming up on two years. I took a job here in spring 2007 and then started taking classes toward my PhD. Now that I'm leaving for a new job at a new place, I'm a little sorry this was such a disappointment for my employment, but I'm hoping to continue my degree here even after I'm gone. I should know by the next week or two if I got into the department formally so I can continue.
University of Richmond- Go Spiders! What a great opportunity to move up in my career. My first position with some administrative responsibility. I can't wait to get going. This feels right, and really positive and I'm really looking forward to it.
Aside from those first-hand experiences, my family is tied in to a few other schools as well, furthering my college involvement. My dad and sister went to Penn State (Nittany Lions- JoePa, baby!) and dad did his undergrad at University of Wisconsin (The Badgers). My sister and I followed a similar track since she did her undergrad at Virginia Tech, then a year of grad school at ISU and now is doing law school, having started at Penn State and now being at W&M.
Anyways, I've been meaning to document this path for myself since I'm considering a tattoo based on my life being so intricately intertwined with college life. It's been good, bad, rewarding, frustrating and overall has given me opportunities and a mindset I have come to highly value and appreciate.
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