Kara would like to go back to fourth grade—as a teacher when she graduates from Longwood with her degree in liberal studies, which is the major for aspiring elementary school teachers.
She is the fourth and final person in her family to attend Longwood. Her dad graduated in 1985, her mom in 1986 and her sister in 2017. Longwood is definitely a family affair for the Parrs. A graduate of Tabb High School, Kara was in the Key Club, National Honor Society, Bowling Club and the National Beta Club. But her favorite thing by far was singing. She was in the Girls’ Ensemble, serving as its president when she was a senior, and Jazz Choir, and she participated in school musicals.
When she’s on the listening end of music, it has to be country: “I’m a big fan,” she says. And she’s a big fan of dogs, as well: “I LOVE dogs.” She has a cockapoo named Sophie and a cocker spaniel named Henry.
I am in awe of how quickly my first semester at Longwood has gone by. I always remember hearing that college would go by more quickly than high school, and I honestly did not believe it until now‑-but it is so true.
The most wonderful time of the year has begun, and so have the holiday festivities!
The traditional Thanksgiving dinner includes turkey and all the trimmings, plus our famous baked Alaska for dessert!
At Longwood, there is a tradition of having a Thanksgiving dinner the Thursday before Thanksgiving. At the dinner, D-Hall staff prepare all of the traditional Thanksgiving dishes, including ham and turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and stuffing. For dessert, they had baked Alaska. It was such a fun time seeing the students come together for a special time!
Recently the city of Farmville had their annual Christmas Tree Lighting! At the event, the bands from Prince Edward, Fuqua and Cumberland schools played everyone’s favorite holiday tunes. The mayor of Farmville invited kids on the stage who were children of faculty at Longwood.Two of the kids were our very own President Reveley’s children! It was so cool to see the residents of Farmville and the students of Longwood come together to celebrate!
Kara would like to go back to fourth grade—as a teacher when she graduates from Longwood with her degree in liberal studies, which is the major for aspiring elementary school teachers.
She is the fourth and final person in her family to attend Longwood. Her dad graduated in 1985, her mom in 1986 and her sister in 2017. Longwood is definitely a family affair for the Parrs. A graduate of Tabb High School, Kara was in the Key Club, National Honor Society, Bowling Club and the National Beta Club. But her favorite thing by far was singing. She was in the Girls’ Ensemble, serving as its president when she was a senior, and Jazz Choir, and she participated in school musicals.
When she’s on the listening end of music, it has to be country: “I’m a big fan,” she says. And she’s a big fan of dogs, as well: “I LOVE dogs.” She has a cockapoo named Sophie and a cocker spaniel named Henry.
A few months ago, when I found out the dates for Parents Weekend, I immediately told my dad so he could get a hotel before they were all booked. Sadly, a few weeks Parents Weekend, he found out he had a work-related conflict, so he would not be able to come that weekend.
Luckily, he was able to come to Farmville the weekend before! We had a great time! We started off with brunch at D Hall, because he wanted to use a guest swipe that he had paid for rather than going to a restaurant and spending additional money. After that, we walked around Main Street and just enjoyed each other’s company.
Kara and her mom during Parents Weekend.
My mom still came for Parents Weekend! She arrived on Saturday, and we had lunch at Macado’s! It was super busy, but the burger I ordered was worth the wait! After that, we did some shopping downtown at Pairet’s, Sleeping Bee and Penelope—a few of my favorites! We made a trip to Walmart so I could stock up on snacks (thanks, Mom!). We then made our way back to the hotel for the night. For breakfast the next morning, we went to Walker’s Diner and the food there was delicious! It may look old from the outside, but I would 100 percent recommend their food!
I am so glad that both of my parents were able to come and visit! It won’t be too long before I’ll be heading back to Yorktown for fall break!
Kara would like to go back to fourth grade—as a teacher when she graduates from Longwood with her degree in liberal studies, which is the major for aspiring elementary school teachers.
She is the fourth and final person in her family to attend Longwood. Her dad graduated in 1985, her mom in 1986 and her sister in 2017. Longwood is definitely a family affair for the Parrs. A graduate of Tabb High School, Kara was in the Key Club, National Honor Society, Bowling Club and the National Beta Club. But her favorite thing by far was singing. She was in the Girls’ Ensemble, serving as its president when she was a senior, and Jazz Choir, and she participated in school musicals.
When she’s on the listening end of music, it has to be country: “I’m a big fan,” she says. And she’s a big fan of dogs, as well: “I LOVE dogs.” She has a cockapoo named Sophie and a cocker spaniel named Henry.
Before arriving at Longwood, I didn’t really know what to expect from college.I had only heard stories about how mean andlacking in understanding collegeprofessors are and how terrible living with a roommate could be.
Well, I am here to tell you the opposite is true when it comes to the professorshereat Longwood! From the first day of class, each professorhas said multiple times that they are here for us and that they want to see us succeed.Also, because my classes are very small compared with other universities, the professors have an opportunity to get to know their students on apersonal level.
Another plus is that everyprofessor has certain times they are in their office with the door open, and they’re prepared for students to show up with questions. They set this time aside so that they can help students be successful in their class! Before I came to Longwood, I thought professorsdidn’t care about who you areor if you were successful orif you werestruggling in the class—but that’s not the case at Longwood.
I have heard plenty of stories aboutexperiences withbad roommates!I got the impression that your roommate was going to make or break your freshman year—or your college experience in general.Leading up to my freshman year, I was a bit nervous aboutfinding a roommate because I didn’t really know anyone who would be attending Longwood, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go random or not.
Kara (right) and her roommate, Kathryn, a nursing major.
Let me tell you that I lucked out witha great roommate! It turns out that our dads actually met through Longwood. My dad was an education major, and he did his student teaching at my roommate’s dad’s high school.Her dad was interested in the same major that my dad was pursuing, so my dad talked to him about Longwood, and he graduated from here, too!
When living with a roommate, I suggest that you discuss your expectations: for example, if you want to keep the room clean, if you are normally cold/hot,if you careaboutother peoplebeingin the room. After all, it is both your and your roommate’s room!It’s an adjustment to share a room and have such a small space for yourself, but after a few weeks of being in the dorm, I have finally found a place for everything and gotten in the groove of things!
Although it is only about a month into the college life, I am loving it! It took me a little bit to figure out my time-managementskillswithschoolwork coming first and my social life coming second.But I am making new friends and enjoying my classes (for the most part!), and I loveventuring out into Farmville on the weekends! I cannot wait to see what the next few weeks will hold!
Kara would like to go back to fourth grade—as a teacher when she graduates from Longwood with her degree in liberal studies, which is the major for aspiring elementary school teachers.
She is the fourth and final person in her family to attend Longwood. Her dad graduated in 1985, her mom in 1986 and her sister in 2017. Longwood is definitely a family affair for the Parrs. A graduate of Tabb High School, Kara was in the Key Club, National Honor Society, Bowling Club and the National Beta Club. But her favorite thing by far was singing. She was in the Girls’ Ensemble, serving as its president when she was a senior, and Jazz Choir, and she participated in school musicals.
When she’s on the listening end of music, it has to be country: “I’m a big fan,” she says. And she’s a big fan of dogs, as well: “I LOVE dogs.” She has a cockapoo named Sophie and a cocker spaniel named Henry.
Move-in day was a whole mix of emotions: nervousness, excitement, stress and so on. I don’t think there is any one thing that can really prepare you for it.
It started off with waking up in our hotel room in Farmville. We had driven to Farmville the night before so we wouldn’t have to leave home on move-in day during the wee hours of the morning! We were first in line on campus at 6:45 a.m. (I highly recommend getting in line as early as possible!)
Part of the reason we got there so early is that I wanted to be the first to move in and I wanted to get all of my things moved in as quickly as possible! The other part is that the marketing and communications staff from Longwood had reached out to both of my parents because, when they were students here at Longwood, they both lived in the high rises!
Throughout the morning, we were followed by a photographer, and my parents were also interviewed by a videographer. It’s pretty cool that I get to live in the newly renovated Frazer, which is where my dad also lived when he was a student.
Both of Kara’s parents are Longwood alums, and her dad lived in Frazer Hall, too, though Frazer looks much different today after its complete renovation.
In the midst of all of that, my roommate, suitemates and I were trying to get everything moved into our room. After getting most of our things settled, my family and I, along with my roommate and her family, went to lunch at Pino’s, a local Italian restaurant very close to campus that I can see from my dorm room.
My parents then wished me the best and started the journey back to Yorktown after a long day.
I know that this is just the beginning, but I am very excited for all of the memories and friendships that I will create during my time here at Longwood!
Kara would like to go back to fourth grade—as a teacher when she graduates from Longwood with her degree in liberal studies, which is the major for aspiring elementary school teachers.
She is the fourth and final person in her family to attend Longwood. Her dad graduated in 1985, her mom in 1986 and her sister in 2017. Longwood is definitely a family affair for the Parrs. A graduate of Tabb High School, Kara was in the Key Club, National Honor Society, Bowling Club and the National Beta Club. But her favorite thing by far was singing. She was in the Girls’ Ensemble, serving as its president when she was a senior, and Jazz Choir, and she participated in school musicals.
When she’s on the listening end of music, it has to be country: “I’m a big fan,” she says. And she’s a big fan of dogs, as well: “I LOVE dogs.” She has a cockapoo named Sophie and a cocker spaniel named Henry.
