Deciding which college to attend was not a decision that I made easily. I didn’t commit early like most athletes I knew. I applied to a ton of schools and made my parents drive me up and down the east coast for visit after visit. I didn’t really decide where I wanted to go until the middle of March, my senior year. That being said, I could not be happier that I waited to make my decision. If I had committed to any of the schools that made offers to me during my junior year, I would never have even heard of Washington and Lee, and I’d most likely be on some large campus with over 15,000 students, wishing I had taken more time picking where to spend these four years of my life.
Coming to W&L was arguably the best decision I’ve ever made, and that’s coming from someone who’s only been here for one semester. The people here are incredible, the campus is beautiful, and the opportunities for success are astonishing. But shockingly, one of my favorite aspects of the school, is the size. Coming from a large high school, I had always wanted to attend a huge university, so deciding to come to W&L wasn’t easy. Admittedly when I decided to attend W&L, I picked it despite its size. But after just one semester on campus, I've realized that the small size is one of my favorite aspects of the school I call home.
The size of the school is what makes it the amazing place it is. I had always thought that a small college meant knowing everyone and not being able to meet new people, but after the first few weeks here I discovered how naïve I had been to think that I would know every single one of the nearly 2,000 students I go to school with. The small size doesn’t mean you never get to meet anyone new, it just means you get to know more of the faces you see around campus.
Whether it be in the library, on the walk to class, or in the dining hall, the ability to go anywhere on campus and see people you know is a privilege I think we take for granted here. You can go out one night and meet someone you really want to get to know better, and guess what, the next morning he’s sitting two tables away from you at breakfast. Your friends undoubtedly will end up in some of your classes, and even if they don’t you have about a 95 percent chance of bumping into them throughout the course of your day.
Even if you don’t know everyone around you personally, you recognize the faces of fellow classmates, athletes, and that girl that was dancing on the counter last night. The community aspect of a small school like W&L is what makes it such an amazing place to attend, you know the people you see every moment of the day, and they know you too.
Not only is it nice that you and your classmates are able to recognize one another, but it also makes the relationships you have with your professors that much better. The classes on a small campus are intimately sized, and your teachers don’t have to worry about memorizing 100 plus names. Instead, they are able to get to know all 10 to 25 students on a personal basis. This is a bonus when flu season rolls around and you have to email your teacher asking for an extension on that three-page paper you haven’t started yet. They’re more likely to be understanding when they are able to put a face with a name and remember who you are.
Another perk of knowing the faces on campus comes when it’s time for athletic events, like soccer games for example. A common misconception is that playing a sport at a small college isn’t as exciting, because you don’t get to play in front of a huge crowd with hundreds of people. The truth is, there won’t be a large turnout at games, there just aren’t enough people on campus for there to be hundreds of fans at every event, but the number of fans in the stands isn’t what matter.
At a small school, the faces of the people in the stands at your games are faces that you know. They’re your friends, your classmates, your professors, people you just happen to see seven times a day. They know who you are, and as they cheer for you they aren’t cheering just because sporting events are exciting, but because they want you, personally, to do well.
At a small school you can lose a big game one day and when you walk into your 8 a.m. the next morning your professor will tell you how impressed he was with how you played individually, despite the loss. The people on campus know you individually, and root for you and the teammates around you because they know you as people, not just as your positions on the field.
Ultimately, the quality of your college experience depends on who you are as an individual and what you make of the school you attend. At W&L, it would be hard for anyone to have a bad college experience because there is something for everyone here. The small size is just one of the aspects that make W&L the incredible place it is, but I would argue that the size may be the most important quality that W&L possesses.
The small size brings people together, it helps make everyone feel at home, and it creates a community of support that everyone fits into. Looking back at all of the schools I applied to my senior year, it’s surprising to me how few of those schools had under 5,000 students. I guess luck was on my side when it came time to make my decision. Picking W&L despite its size turned into loving W&L because of its size, and I’m reminded of how privileged I am to attend a school this size every day as I walk around campus.
