We are officially exactly at the two-week post-graduation time point, which means we have had plenty of time to reflect on our college experiences! So, we thought it would be fun to write a post about our top 5 favorite experiences during our time at UGA. Since we’ve raved about study abroad in past posts, we decided not to include study abroad in this list. Each of us had unique college experiences, so we decided to do 5 experiences each. Yes, the title is misleading because you will actually be reading about 10 experiences. Nonetheless, you may notice some overlap. Hopefully, this can encourage you to make the most of your UGA/college experience. If you have graduated, we encourage you to reflect back on your time and think of what would be your top 5 experiences (academic, personal, professional, extracurricular, or social). With that being said, keep scrolling to see what each of us chose.
Saanvikha
This list is in no particular order of importance because, honestly, it would be impossible to rank it based on importance (I could barely narrow it down to 5). Overall, when I think about my college experience and what motivated me each day, these 5 definitely pop into my mind immediately.
- The Backpack Project of Athens: I started volunteering with The Backpack Project of Athens (TBP/ATH), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in Athens, GA that aims to ease the burden of homelessness, the fall of my freshman year through another incredible organization, the Arch Policy Institute. My biggest takeaway from TBP/ATH is the ability to form meaningful relationships with the Athens community and serve a group that is often neglected. I have been able to build friendships with people experiencing homelessness, bond over experiences in the United Kingdom, and be a friendly ear to hear their concerns and requests. TBP/ATH also taught me how to be an effective leader, create a just cause for a team, and how to work on a team of students to advance operational and organizational efforts. We were constantly looking for ways to grow and serve our clients in a more intentional manner, and I learned skills and built relationships that I will carry forward for a long time. I met some INCREDIBLE people along the way who continue to inspire me daily.
- Institute for Leadership Advancement (ILA): I joined ILA my junior year after hearing incredible things from Dawson. Prior to ILA in the Terry College of Business, I never saw myself venturing into anything related to business. Regardless, ILA is not designed to teach you how to pursue a career in business, but it is rather geared towards training the future leaders of our society to be successful and intentional servant-leaders. Besides the tangible leadership skills I learned in these courses, I also value the personal journey it forced me to undertake. I learned more about myself, my values, and why I wanted to pursue my future career path. I also found some of my favorite mentors with the professors through this program, and I would not have been able to achieve some of my goals without this support system.
- Undergraduate Research: I know I can complain about undergraduate research sometimes, but I truly cannot imagine college without it. Research is meant to be challenging, frustrating, time-consuming, and draining. However, it is also stimulating, thought-provoking, and motivating, which is what I have come to find. I could not imagine my sophomore year without going into the lab at 10 PM on a Friday or spending weekends counting parasites in the Lionheart microscope. Despite the occasional Chagas scares (iykyk) and inability to properly use a drill, I truly enjoyed the work I did, the relationships I built with those who worked in the lab, and the opportunities my work gave me (aka traveling to Boston and Palo Alto!).
- Policy Writing: I lumped together a lot of my experiences into policy writing, which, I know, is lowkey cheating. But, I simply couldn’t pick one amongst them all. Getting involved with policy through the Arch Policy Institute (API) defined most of my extracurricular involvement going forward. Through the Frye Fellowship, API, and the Archway Partnership, I learned to critically analyze existing issues in our healthcare system, rural development programs, or local government. I developed a proactive mindset to look for solutions for these problems through policy, which is work I could see myself doing in the future. Besides being able to publish in our yearly journal or having our group’s bill pass the Georgia House and Senate this year, policy writing was an outlet for me to hone in my skills and explore an interest that was outside of my major and what I studied in college.
- GNYHA Internship: If you personally know me, you know I can’t stop talking about how incredible it was to spend my summer at the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA). I could write a whole post on this in the future, but I’ll keep it short for now. This internship solidified my interest in healthcare law. However, it also connected me with Ms. Waltman, one of my favorite people to talk to, gave me the confidence to be able to navigate a big, new city all alone. Truly, I love New York City and really want to live there one day even if it’s a short stint. I grew so much personally and also explored a professional passion. My biggest recommendation to all of you is to never be afraid to take risks if it is what you truly WANT and go after/apply to those big internships/scholarships because you never know what could happen.
Dawson
Similarly, my list is also in no particular order, but I wanted to highlight some wonderful experiences from over time!
- Winning the National Championships with the Redcoats: my freshman year I was a member of the Redcoats Marching Band! It feels SO long ago, but I was a marching brat all throughout high school and knew I wanted to do marching for at least one year in college. That year in 2021 was when we went to Indianapolis for the CFP National Championship game and I remember being hysterical there in the arena. It was one of the first true moments that I felt excited and knew that Home is Where the Arch is, and although I was only in RCB for one year, I still remain involved with UGA Music through UGA Presents events (plug but I LOVE them) and Kappa Kappa Psi (a music fraternity on campus). I met some of my closest friends through RCB, and they all graduated before me, but I had never felt so connected to the UGA community through this experience.
- Institute for Leadership Advancement: This has already been talked about by some, but ILA was truly one of the most transformative experiences of my whole undergrad. Prior to doing this leadership certificate program, I was a staunch hater of business and doing anything with it, but through ILA, I made incredible friends and peer mentors that I stay in touch with and still look up to. It was great to learn more about my personality and strengths, but I also have a highlight of creating a company called ‘Stitch’ with 7 of my closest friends in the class where we ‘created’ a company and would talk about leadership principles and tactics. It has been fun to stay involved with the ILA faculty and the yearly ILA gala, and I feel obscenely old as I did it spring of my freshman year. But, it has been amazing to get my friends to also do the program and see their growth. ILA showed me the amazing benefits that a business perspective can provide and convinced me to pursue my Economics major.
- KKPsi Music Recital: During my first-year, I knew I would not have time to continue with RCB, the schedule was demanding and made it difficult to do much else. So, I decided to pledge for Kappa Kappa Psi, a national honorary music fraternity, where one of my closest friends at the time, Isabella, became my big! I have made so many INCREDIBLE memories, but one of the top was our MC Recital. It is not a typical recital .. but rather a fun concert with skits and some instrumental playing. I played the Mario Underwater theme on the saxophone, did the Georgette kickline, and even did a fun Starbucks skit. Each one of us have nicknames, and my KKPsi nickname is “Starbs,” which is very on brand if you know me. But, I’m so glad I stuck with it throughout college and adore my little Carter, and everyone that has gone through it with me.
- Brumby RA: For my sophomore and junior year I was a resident assistant in Brumby Hall and had the BEST time. I will still complain about the Brumby hill to this day, but Brumby brought me some of my closest friends in college. My residents were campus showstoppers, and one of them has now taken my UGA Digital Dawg account (shout out @uga.landon)! From social events like the yearly Thanksgiving Yule Tide Feast to Haunted Highrises to daily movie nights doing homework and making bulletin boards, it was genuinely one of the best experiences. At times it was difficult to separate personal and professional life, but I would not have changed it for anything. My freshman year I was on the Russell Community Council (the best one on campus) and served as president! This got me involved with housing and inspired me to stay involved, and I am so glad it did. Housing brought me incredible friendships and experiences that I will hold on to forever.
- Honors TAing: Over three different semesters I was a teaching assistant for an introductory honors course where I taught 17 students each term! I loved the experience of getting to mentor and advise my students on resumes and places to study and I frequently brought in friends to talk about their experiences. This, along with many other experiences, only reinforced my interest in education. Although I could never be a full-time professor, I have a deep appreciation for our educational system. Each semester, I had a choice week where I would bring in Dunkin Donuts and would talk about the importance of LinkedIn and staying connected, and I always love when my former students reach out and tell me about their accomplishments and what they are up to!
Bonus!
Both of us agree that combined, one of our top experiences has been our Wine & Spine book club! The only regret we may have is not starting it earlier. This book club literally sprouted out of a text message in a groupchat with our close friend Alex Womack (check out his blog post here!). We all wanted to start off 2025 with the goal of reading more, so, of course, we decided to start our own book club! Although it is meant for reading and exploring different genres of literature, it is also an hour and a half each week to see 15 of our closest friends! We also include a weekly wine tasting (as the name suggests) to expand our palates. We simply can’t get enough time with our friends and need an excuse to read and chat throughout the summer, so we are continuing Wine & Spine over the summer virtually!
Well there you have it, folks! We know this is a little bit of a change in pace from the previous posts, but we hope you got a little taste of what experiences defined our UGA experience, and if you’re still at UGA, please make the most of everything the university offers! Also, this post is a reminder that goals are more easily met when you make it enjoyable and do it with friends, and that is exactly what we did with Wine & Spine!