Katie

My senior year of college (and thus the year I was a Mentor Resident Assistant), Randy-Mac's Office of Residence Life and Housing hired a new Coordinator. I originally wasn't super happy with this because I had really like the previous Coordinator, a girl named Shannon who had gone to Randolph-Macon, and she and I got along quite well. Shannon decided that she had had her fill of nasty parent phone calls and assignment paperwork, so she left the college administration realm to do something else.

Enter Katie Thorne. Freakin' Katie Thorne.

Growing up in NOVA (Northern Virginia to you folks unfamiliar with the local geography), Katie left the D.C. metro area for the country when she attended Virginia Tech for college and grad school. And THEN, Katie came to Ashland! I liked Katie well enough from the start, but over my senior year we bonded and became close friends. My year on Richmond's Boulevard was largely characterized by nights out with Katie (along with our other awesome friends). When I moved to Charlottesville, Katie came to my humble penthouse apartment and I reciprocated with visits to her cinder block palace. Our time together has been rife with dinners at Sticky Rice, bottles of wine, nights in front of the TV, and long talks about anything and everything. Katie is incredibly accepting of everyone and is one of the people I can truly say enjoys life for everything it has to offer. The things most people only dream about, like going to Chicago on a whim for St. Patrick's Day or backpacking Europe with people she met while studying abroad in Austria, these are the things on which Katie thrives. I have such admiration for Katie's ability to grab opportunities that are fun and life-giving in a way other people typically don't have the audacity to do. Katie is so good at always seeing the positive in life, and I know that I have learned so much from having the privilege to spend precious moments with her, simply enjoying life.

During the past few months, my situation has been so blessed that I have been able to spend several weeks with Katie after my return from Haiti, and it's a good thing because last Tuesday Katie moved to Scotland (SCOTLAND!). Edinburgh, in fact. If you haven't been to Scotland, it is a gorgeous country, and I'm so happy for Katie's new experiences. While I am sad that Katie no longer lives a short hour and a half drive west on 64, I am so glad for the time we have had over the past three years and I'm very much looking forward to our future adventures in Europe!

(you can get to know Katie on her blog at flower3192.blogspot.com)