Final Exercises 2025

James Edwards: After graduation, I’m headed to Delaware to be a pediatric trauma nurse.

Maya Johnson: I’ll be attending Vanderbilt University, pursuing a master’s in higher education administration.

Nicholas Lacy: I’ll be going to Pittsburgh to work as a gold bar recruiter for the Space Force.

Nakayla Figgins: After graduation, I’ll be moving to D.C. to work as a PICU nurse at Children’s National.

Chris Johnson: I’ll commission as an ensign in the Navy and head up to D.C. to start my career as a cyber warfare engineer.

Alex Schaefer: I plan to pursue a Ph.D. in electrical and systems engineering at the University of Pennsylvania.

Laura-Louise Rice: I’ll be moving to South Carolina to work on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

GK Do: I’m going to be a Double Hoo and get my master’s in business analytics at the McIntire School of Commerce.

Nick Chu: After graduation, I’ll be in D.C. while I apply to medical schools.

Precious Ezealigo: After graduation, I’m moving to Arlington, Virginia, to join Amazon as a finance manager.

Rebecca Fitch: I’ll be going to William & Mary to get a master’s in counseling with a concentration in military and veterans. And I’ll also be commissioning into the Army Reserves.

Ben Foote: I’ll be staying in Charlottesville to run my sports nutrition startup with my wife and co-founder, Paige.

Jack Siegel: I’m going to Richmond to be a Virginia Management Fellow, where I’ll do policy work for three different state agencies over two years. I really hope to continue my opera career as well.

[♪ Jack Siegel singing ♪]

Katie Rogers: I will be going to New York, and I’ll be working for Mars Wrigley doing corporate finance.

Jade Preston: After graduation, I’ll be moving to Northern Virginia to continue my Air Force career as an operations research analyst.

Kaylee Chan: I’m going to be a fifth-grade math-science teacher at Walker Upper Elementary School right here in Charlottesville.

Marie-Clare Matricardi: I’m moving to D.C. to work for the Republican Attorneys General Association.

BreAnn Dishman: After graduation, I’m going to be staying right here in Charlottesville to work at UVA in the pediatric intensive care unit.

Malia Takei: I’m moving to Chicago to be a finance attorney with Mayer Brown.

Sasha Ivanov: I will be pursuing a chemistry Ph.D. at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Josh Novick: I’ll be moving to New York City as a private credit analyst for Blackstone.

Izzy Spanswick: After graduation, I’ll be joining the Peace Corps and going to Vietnam to teach English.

Charlotte Devine: I’ll be heading to Denver to work as a senior designer at the landscape architecture firm MVVA.

Jacob Hobbs: I’ll be in Washington, D.C., working as an associate software engineer at CoStar Group. Eventually, I’ll be pursuing a Ph.D. in ethical AI.

Michael Gonçalves: After graduation, I’m going to Duke University, while I’ll be completing my residency training in psychiatry.

Serena Kopf: I’m going to be a Double Hoo and pursue my master’s in counselor education here at UVA.

[The Year in Review 2024-2025]

Alinor Smith: This past year at UVA has been such a great year. It’s been a whirlwind.

Second-year student: The last year has been really busy.

Alisha Whirley: I mean, I’m a first-year, so it’s definitely a lot of adjusting, learning the ropes.

[We Moved In]

[♪ Music Playing ♪]

[We Discovered]

Trent Weiss: If you can push these systems to their absolute limit and they still function, you can be pretty sure they’re going to work on the highway.

[UVA Today: Robot Car Wins Test of Speed, Safety]

Jeffrey Saucerman: We’ve identified a number of drugs that have been already approved. We’re finding new uses for them in heart disease.

[UVA Today: Artificial Intelligence to Accelerate New Heart Treatments]

[♪ Music Playing ♪]

[UVA Today: Anne Verbiscer to Join Asteroid Mission]

[UVA Today: Danielle Citron Tops Legal Scholars List]

[UVA Today: Catherine Bradshaw Named Fellow for Education Research]

[UVA Today: UVA Engineers Solve Hypersonic Flight Problem]

[We Built]

[New Fairfax Campus]

[Biotech Accelerator]

[Shumway Hall]

[Hardie Football Operations Center]

[Number 1 Hospital in Virginia, Newsweek]

[Number 1 Public Business School in the World, Financial Times]

[Number 1 Public Law School, U.S. News & World Report]

[Number 1 Public School 4-Year Graduation Rate, U.S. News & World Report]

[Number 1 Public School for Financial Aid, Princeton Review]

[Number 1 College in Virginia, Forbes]

[We Played]

[Reactions to UVA’s Social Post on Trick or Treating on the Lawn]

[Love this. That’s my brother as Beetle Juice.]

[The crayon pack forever.]

[My little chicken!]

[Whooshing]

[♪ Music Playing ♪]

Cedric Rucker: I’m learning how to be.

Matt Vogel: Oh, but isn’t that true of all of us, Peter Peter?

[Laughter]

[We Served]

[♪ Upbeat Music ♪]

[UVA Today: UVA Supports Neighbors With ‘Give Where You Live’ Campaign]

Jim Ryan: On your mark, get set, go.

[♪ Music Playing ♪]

[We Honored]

Patti Fralix: We had to be rebels. We had to be gritty.

[Reactions to UVA’s Social Post on the Class of 1974 Celebrations]

[Here’s to the trailblazing women from UVA’s Class of 1974!]

[Proud of being the first class of undergraduate women at UVA in 1970, graduating in 1974!]

Betty Shotton: It was the most wonderful experience of my whole life.

[All these women are my heroes. Thanks for blazing a trail for us to follow in!]

[♪ Music Playing ♪]

[Presidential Portrait Series: Ken Elzinga]

[Presidential Portrait Series: Katie Couric]

[Presidential Portrait Series: Ralph Sampson]

[UVA Today: UVA Celebrates 200 Years of Classes]

[UVA Today: UVA Student is Latest Rhodes Scholar]

[UVA Today: Research Earns Students Goldwater Scholarships]

[UVA Today Faculty Spotlight: For Martin Wu, Microbiology is All Around]

[UVA Today Faculty Spotlight: Evangelia Gazaki Makes Math Fun]

[UVA Today Faculty Spotlight: William Brady Trains the Next Generation of Doctors]

[UVA Today: President Emeritus John T. Casteen III, 1943-2025]

Jim Ryan: John made UVA a place of large ambitions. He did nothing shy of helping to build the financial, physical and intellectual foundation on which the present version of UVA rests.

[UVA Today: Mike Hollins Receives Inspiration Award From NCAA]

Mike Hollins: It’s not a Mike Hollins award. The inspiration goes to the players, my brothers, that I lost. I wake up every day and just want to keep that flame going.

Tony Bennett: It was the time of a lifetime, to get to coach all these guys. I think we touched greatness.

[♪ Music Playing ♪]

[UVA Today: Women’s Swimming Wins Fifth Straight NCAA Title]

[UVA Today: Men’s Golf Wins First ACC Title]

[UVA Today: Women’s Tennis Doubles Are NCAA Champs]

[UVA Today: Men’s Distance Medley Relay Breaks NCAA Record]

[UVA Today: Shane Cohen Wins 800-Meter NCAA Title]

[UVA Today: UVA Sets School Medal Record in Paris Olympics]

[UVA Today: Jade Hylton Breaks UVA’s Home Run Record]

[UVA Today: Alexis Ohanian Makes Gift to Women’s Basketball]

Alexis Ohanian: UVA women’s basketball has such an amazing legacy. I felt this door opening for the women’s program here.

[♪ Music Playing ♪]

[We Welcomed]

Student 1: It’s there.

Mother of Student 1: Are you sure?

Student 1: View update. Wait, wait, wait, no.

Student 2: My heart is pounding out of my chest so.

[Student 1 Laughs]

Mother of Student 1: I need my glasses

[High school students cheering when they learned they were admitted to UVA.]

[UVA Today: Ryan Odom Is New Men’s Basketball Coach]

Ryan Odom: This is the place that I fell in love with basketball. This is the place I was shaped in so many ways.

[♪ Music Playing ♪]

[UVA Alumni and Howler Brothers Co-Founders Drop Exclusive Collection]

[lululemon Meets UVA]

[We Celebrated]

Alinor Smith: As a fourth-year getting ready to walk the Lawn, the University does feel different. I can’t believe that I’m not going to be here. I’m so glad that I got to experience all of the traditions, and I just love all of it. And I’m so sad to leave it.

[♪ Music Playing ♪]

We are starting our first year at the University of Virginia. Yeah! Coming up from Georgia yeah.

Just getting moved in, first day on campus or Grounds. Long 15 hour drive to get here. Yes, for sure but happy that we’re kind of getting settled. You know, today is a really exciting day it’s a whole new journey now. Yes, this is our last one. We live in a tent just to pay for all this tuition.

I’m a little nervous of course it’s a whole new environment for me but it’s great I love UVA so I’m excited to move in and get my things ready. Yeah I’m kind of nervous because I kind of had to quarantine for like two years of high school, so I haven’t really done in person in a while.

I’m looking forward to meeting new people. Getting to take classes I care about, that’ll be good. Having my independence and like make me figure out like more who I want to be and like what I want to do. Excited for football games I’m just excited for class overall. Explore all of Charlottesville just ride around on my bike honestly that’s what I’m looking forward to the most.

It’s obviously exciting to have like a sense of freedom but obviously I’m going to miss everyone so much. She wants me to call her every day, every day, I’m fine with that. Once a week you know like maybe you set a time to check in.

But it should be more often than the times that you need to ask for money. Right! That’s right! We haven’t set up rules but I have some in my head so twice a day at least. Maybe like the first couple days then I feel like I’m going to get distracted.

Like this is such an exciting time you’re going to make so many great friends, I already love your roommate, just enjoy yourself. Be kind to yourself. It’s easy to get caught up in expectations and what you’re supposed to do and how you’re supposed to do it.

Study hard but have a lot of fun. Sounds good. It’s all gonna be overwhelming the first two weeks but after that you know things will be starting to feel like home.

My wife and I, Kimberly Grantham, we are alum and we’re just really proud to have him join the ranks of the Wahoos and man it’s just a great moment you know.

This will be the first time in 29 years that we won’t have any of our children in the house with us anymore. That’s crazy. Yeah. It’s outrageous. He was always at home when I got home and he’s always there to hang out and now he’s not, now he’s in Charlottesville, Virginia.

That’s outrageous, man. I’m officially an empty nester after today so it’s going to be an adjustment. I really don’t want to talk too much about it because I’ll probably start crying. Like you said, it hasn’t sunk in yet so we’re just waiting for the storm to pass over.

We’re saving the crying for the car drive home we’ll have a good solid eight hours of crying ahead of us so, we’ll be okay. It’s hard it’s just hard to see her go. Love you. It’s gonna be weird to have four people at the table having dinner instead of five. She is clearly my very good friend so I will miss her advice, oh now you’re making me teary. I think just know that what you may feel like you’re losing, the University is gaining plus some.

Try to keep being me as best I can, meet new people, spread my impact, fulfill the legacy that you left coming here and that mom left and that I’m gonna continue to be a role model for my two younger siblings, Copeland and Jovi, that may be coming through here in a few years.

[♪ Music Playing ♪]