My name’s Amelia Graves and I am from Syria, Virginia. I am a Class of 2021 Mathematics major. I have a concentration in secondary education and a minor in computer science. I am involved with Honors Student Association, Math Club, Women’s Club Soccer, Mortar Board and Phi Sigma Pi.
In my first year at Longwood, I knew I wanted to be involved on campus. I knew I would get more out of honors by being an active member of HSA. During the fall semester, I was unsure and lost about how I could get involved with the club. In the spring semester, I was able to get more involved because I was voted to be co-chair of the SPCA dance. It was a lot of fun to plan. I also ran to be on exec board at the end of the semester, but sadly lost. But I also ran to be the SGA representative for HSA and won. I also wanted to be a part of Math Club to have lots of fun in different mathematical ways. Two exec members were graduating in December, so I was able to become the secretary of the club. By the end of the second semester, I knew I wanted to move up to be the vice president. Everyone that ran for the executive board of Math Club ran unopposed so I will be the vice president next year. At first, I didn’t think I’d fit into a club sport, but my roommate and suitemate pushed me to try out, and I am so happy I did. Soccer has been a lot of fun and I have enjoyed traveling to other schools to play games.
My second year at Longwood started really busy. Some of my classes had more requirements that needed more attention than in the previous year. I let the first semester fly by without getting in over my head involved with organizations. Spring semester I decided I wanted to try something new and make new friends, which led me to rush Phi Sigma Pi. As the semester went on, I knew it was a great decision and gave me so many friends from different places and majors. It also gave me another leadership opportunity when I became the fundraising chair. Being a part of SGA all year allowed me to become experienced with everything happening on campus. It also led me to run for a senator position for the 2019-2020 school year. Sadly, I did not win the election, but it opened up a new door for me to be the Va21 Representative for Longwood. I also ran for treasurer of HSA because my friends thought I would be great for the position and they wanted to see me run again. I won the position then shortly after the bylaws changed so that we would reelect the exec members in the fall, so I’ll only have the position for the fall.
My third year at Longwood is definitely a year I won’t forget. I became super involved with SGA since I was going to Richmond about 5 times a semester. It was a great experience to see everything happening on other campuses that I could bring back to Longwood. But it also helped me develop myself learning more about policies and how to lobby. In February, I was able to bring four other Longwood students to Richmond for VA21’s Lobby Day. It was a great experience and I wish I would be able to do it again. Since I will be student teaching next spring, I’m not sure if I’d be able to have the same experience. In Phi Sigma Pi, being the fundraising chair was fun, but with my other commitments, I found myself struggling. I made the hard decision to step down as the committee head for the spring because it was one of my more time-consuming positions and I could still be a part of Phi Sigma Pi even if I did step down from my position. At the end of the spring semester, I was elected as a historian for the fraternity. I can’t wait to highlight my brothers and let everyone have their moment. During my short time as treasurer for HSA was a great one. It taught me a lot about how to be a treasurer and gave me the experience that made me comfortable running for treasurer of Mortar Board. When I got tapped for Mortar Board, I was definitely excited. It was hard at the beginning because my best friend unfortunately did not get in. I had to show my excitement elsewhere. I was also the president of Math Club. We tried to put our name out there and come up with more fun ideas to keep people coming back. Everything came to an abrupt stop right after spring break. No one saw the intensity of the COVID-19 outbreak until it was too late. It was definitely a hard transition but I am still excited and hopeful that we can be back on campus in the fall.
