High School: Mary Persons High School

Hometown: Forsyth, GA

Degree Objective/Major: International Affairs and Sociology, certificate in Personal and Organizational Leadership, Pre-Law

List personal highlights at the UGA:

• Alpha Tau Omega
• Dawg Camp Counselor and Executive Board member as Director for Participant Recruitment
• UGA Miracle Morale Committee
• Executive Board member as Morale Co-Chair
• Georgia Recruitment Team
• Global Engagement Learning Community
• Relay for Life
• Order of Omega
• Honors Program
• Dean's List

Questions:

Why did you choose UGA?

I chose UGA for a couple of reasons, the first of which was my family. I'm a third generation UGA student and grew up coming to Athens for various events, so I had known about and loved UGA my entire life. When it really came time to take a serious look at schools, however, UGA was the perfect fit for me. I wanted the big school experience and all the opportunity it offered. I wanted to stay in state so take advantage of the HOPE scholarship and still be close to my family. I wanted to major in International Affairs, which I knew UGA had a great program for. So it really turned out to be the perfect fit for me.

My favorite things to do on campus

This is really hard to nail down, but if I had to pick one thing it would probably be simply walking around campus in between classes. Everyone is walking around and going about their business, and you never know who you'll run into. It's great to see people that I used to live in the residence halls with, people that I'm involved in different campus organizations with, people that I studied abroad with, or just to meet new people and hear their story. There are so many great people at UGA, and getting to catch up with them or hear their story is always an awesome experience.

My favorite place to study is...

I love studying in the downstairs lounge in Snelling Dining Commons. It's quiet, has comfortable chairs for studying (or napping), and best of all it's only feet away from the awesome food Snelling has to offer. Even if I'm pulling an all-nighter I can run upstairs and grab some coffee and a snack to keep me energized...just one of the many benefits of our awesome meal plan.

What is student life like at UGA?

In a word; awesome. There's so much to do here as a student that the only thing holding you back is your schedule; there's just not enough time in the day to do everything available to UGA students. Whether it's going to a UGA athletics event, sitting in on a guest lecture, going to a $1 movie in the Tate Center, meeting with other members of a student organization that you're involved in, the possibilities really are endless. And that's only on campus! The city of Athens also has so much to offer to students, it really is impossible to list it all here. With so much to choose from it can sometimes be overwhelming, but if you have the initiative to get involved on campus and take advantage of everything our campus has to offer I guarantee you won't regret it.

My favorite Professor is...

This is tough one, because I've had a lot of great professors at UGA. The first one that springs to mind is from my first semester at UGA; Dr. Robert Harris, who teaches in the Classics department. I had him for Survey of Classical Mythology, which was just a random elective I picked up freshman year because it fit my schedule. Turns out it was an awesome class. Dr. Harris has been at UGA for a long time (my aunt had him for the same class in the Fall of 1968) and had a lot of interesting stories about his time here. I really enjoyed his class because it was basically story time; he would show us some visual aid relating to the myth for that day (usually stamps, which he collects), and then would spend the rest of the class time recalling the myths and legends that he had studied for so long. I really enjoyed having Dr. Harris mostly because I loved to hear him speak; his passion for the subject material and his sincere desire for us to enjoy it was evident, and he cared a lot about his students. Like I said I've had some great professors in my time here, but Dr. Harris was certainly the first one that I came across here and I'm still glad I chose that random elective out of all the other options I had.

After graduation....

I plan on Attending law school. I'd love to go to law school at UGA and am also considering pursuing a joint Juris Doctorate and Masters in Historic Preservation through our College of Environment and Design, but that will all depend on how my applications go.

What I like best about UGA is...

The opportunities that are available to students here. I probably sound like a broken record, but being the size that UGA is means that there are opportunities afforded to our students that you just can't find at other schools. Between offerings in the classroom, on our campus, or even for studying abroad, there are so many things students at Georgia have available to them. It's these opportunities that really sets UGA apart, and also sets UGA alumni apart as they go out into the "real world" after graduation.

The UGA experience I will always remember is...

Moving into my residence hall my first year. I've had some great experiences and done a lot more exciting things in my time at UGA, but I'll never forget the feeling of opening the door to 703 Creswell Hall for the first time and realizing that I was finally a college student.