Final Year at Agnes Scott College
Donation protected
“Every morning you have two choices: continue to sleep with your dreams, or wake up and chase them.” Unknown.
On March 3, 2015, as many of you know, the Board of Directors of Sweet Briar College suddenly decided to close the school at the end of this academic year. My world was turned upside down. This is where I've had the best two years of my life. In high school, I had spent more than a year carefully considering schools, researching, interviewing alumnae, as well as applying for scholarships, loans, and work to make it all possible. This time, I had a few months.
My name is Camille Leeds, a nineteen-year-old from the Northern Shenandoah Valley of VA, and a sophomore double majoring in Classical Studies and International Affairs. I have always had an interest in Classical studies, beginning in 8th grade when I began attending the Junior Classical League conventions, which are competitions for Latin students. I have now been studying Latin for more than 10 years. My other interest is International Affairs. I first became interested in government and politics after taking a US Government AP course in high school and found national security and defending our country and her citizens fascinating. After interning for an elected official, I was more motivated to pursue this career goal. After college, I intend to go on to graduate school in order to study National Security.
I originally chose Sweet Briar after more than a year of consideration for the intensity of its academics and its close-knit community. I have never had to work harder in my life to maintain my grades, but have still managed to end each semester with no grade less than an A-. I entered Sweet Briar as a freshman with 38 college credits (I will have 104 credits at the end of my sophomore year this semester) because of the number of Advanced Placements and Community College classes I took in high school. This has given me the freedom to focus almost exclusively on the courses within my majors.
As I found by visiting and attending Sweet Briar, there is an incredibly close bond that develops among the students and alumnae, built on more than a century of traditions and common experiences. This bond lasts beyond college and throughout life, which is evident in the alumnae; they immediately came together when it was announced that Sweet Briar was closing, putting together a national effort and raising millions of dollars within days in order to save it.
(I'm in the middle)
However, faced with the imminent closure of the college and the likelihood that I will unable to return next year, I am forced to find another school for the coming year on short notice and up against transfer deadlines and would also need to make sure my selection was right for success. Because of the late timing of the closing notice, I also knew that reality may dictate that I put my education on hold for a year, but was going to concentrate on putting in the same effort in uncovering the right school that I did for Sweet Briar.
As I spoke with professors, alumnae, my parents, and others, a number of them strongly encouraged me to look at Agnes Scott along with the other schools and give it very strong consideration as the right school for my education. Agnes Scott is an institution with an excellent academic reputation and credentials, and will provide strong opportunities. With my career goals, it is important that I study critical languages. It offers Chinese, as well as being in a location that offers quite a few internships, many of which would be strong educational experiences.
After many conversations, email exchanges, and visiting Agnes Scott, I found that there indeed is another small women's school that offers excellent academics with a history and tradition which I can embrace and become passionate about. While no school will ever replace Sweet Briar, I believe Agnes Scott is now that academic home in which I can be happy at and receive an education of the same quality, as well as graduate on time. None of my other choices are rated as high academically, offer both my majors, and will require me to stay longer in school to earn my degree.
Due to large uncovered medical bills, my parents are unable to help me with the costs. Per semester, tuition and fees are $18618 and Room & Board $5575 at Agnes Scott. I have $16691 in scholarships and grants and $2750 in loans. This leaves me $4752 short for the 2015 fall semester. As a number of my scholarships were SBC specific, and with the short notice to transfer, most scholarships have already been awarded for the coming year. Between a summer job, working on scholarships, and working during the school year, I should be able to cover books and the short fall for the spring 2016 semester. Basically, I’m short room & board for the fall semester. Your kindness and generosity can make up this shortfall. Be sure to follow my updates and progress on twitter https://twitter.com/CamilleLeeds and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/camille.c.leeds.
Sincerely,
Camille
On March 3, 2015, as many of you know, the Board of Directors of Sweet Briar College suddenly decided to close the school at the end of this academic year. My world was turned upside down. This is where I've had the best two years of my life. In high school, I had spent more than a year carefully considering schools, researching, interviewing alumnae, as well as applying for scholarships, loans, and work to make it all possible. This time, I had a few months.
My name is Camille Leeds, a nineteen-year-old from the Northern Shenandoah Valley of VA, and a sophomore double majoring in Classical Studies and International Affairs. I have always had an interest in Classical studies, beginning in 8th grade when I began attending the Junior Classical League conventions, which are competitions for Latin students. I have now been studying Latin for more than 10 years. My other interest is International Affairs. I first became interested in government and politics after taking a US Government AP course in high school and found national security and defending our country and her citizens fascinating. After interning for an elected official, I was more motivated to pursue this career goal. After college, I intend to go on to graduate school in order to study National Security.
I originally chose Sweet Briar after more than a year of consideration for the intensity of its academics and its close-knit community. I have never had to work harder in my life to maintain my grades, but have still managed to end each semester with no grade less than an A-. I entered Sweet Briar as a freshman with 38 college credits (I will have 104 credits at the end of my sophomore year this semester) because of the number of Advanced Placements and Community College classes I took in high school. This has given me the freedom to focus almost exclusively on the courses within my majors.
As I found by visiting and attending Sweet Briar, there is an incredibly close bond that develops among the students and alumnae, built on more than a century of traditions and common experiences. This bond lasts beyond college and throughout life, which is evident in the alumnae; they immediately came together when it was announced that Sweet Briar was closing, putting together a national effort and raising millions of dollars within days in order to save it.
(I'm in the middle)However, faced with the imminent closure of the college and the likelihood that I will unable to return next year, I am forced to find another school for the coming year on short notice and up against transfer deadlines and would also need to make sure my selection was right for success. Because of the late timing of the closing notice, I also knew that reality may dictate that I put my education on hold for a year, but was going to concentrate on putting in the same effort in uncovering the right school that I did for Sweet Briar.
As I spoke with professors, alumnae, my parents, and others, a number of them strongly encouraged me to look at Agnes Scott along with the other schools and give it very strong consideration as the right school for my education. Agnes Scott is an institution with an excellent academic reputation and credentials, and will provide strong opportunities. With my career goals, it is important that I study critical languages. It offers Chinese, as well as being in a location that offers quite a few internships, many of which would be strong educational experiences.
After many conversations, email exchanges, and visiting Agnes Scott, I found that there indeed is another small women's school that offers excellent academics with a history and tradition which I can embrace and become passionate about. While no school will ever replace Sweet Briar, I believe Agnes Scott is now that academic home in which I can be happy at and receive an education of the same quality, as well as graduate on time. None of my other choices are rated as high academically, offer both my majors, and will require me to stay longer in school to earn my degree.
Due to large uncovered medical bills, my parents are unable to help me with the costs. Per semester, tuition and fees are $18618 and Room & Board $5575 at Agnes Scott. I have $16691 in scholarships and grants and $2750 in loans. This leaves me $4752 short for the 2015 fall semester. As a number of my scholarships were SBC specific, and with the short notice to transfer, most scholarships have already been awarded for the coming year. Between a summer job, working on scholarships, and working during the school year, I should be able to cover books and the short fall for the spring 2016 semester. Basically, I’m short room & board for the fall semester. Your kindness and generosity can make up this shortfall. Be sure to follow my updates and progress on twitter https://twitter.com/CamilleLeeds and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/camille.c.leeds.
Sincerely,
Camille
Organizer
Camille Leeds
Organizer
Berryville, VA
