Aaron: Crim Dell Ampitheatre

The first place that came to my mind was the dock behind Botetourt because I used to go back there to enjoy the quiet and be alone, but I changed my mind and chose the Crim Dell Amphitheatre instead.
Every Wednesday there’s this event here called Worship Wednesday, and it’s not only one group that comes but just people come out to the Amphitheatre and they worship together. I’ve gone a lot, but it was weird for me going there at the beginning because I’m not really out there with my faith and it was strange to go and worship out in the open, like “what am I doing?” So it was always weird for me to worship there. But the reason I’d choose to talk about that instead of anything else is because I think it was very important for stuff like that to go on.
During my four years here, I’ve heard people talk about the TWAMP stereotype, of people always being stressed and letting their GPA define them. And although I see that stereotype defied by so many students, sometimes those stereotypes are based on truth and there are a lot of people at W&M who struggle with those aspects of life here, and they’re trying to find identity outside of school but it’s hard because college puts a lot of emphasis on quantifying what you’re doing. But the thing about Worship Wednesdays is that it’s the most unquantifiable thing there is. You go there, and people see you worshipping, and it’s kinda weird. Or at least it feels weird to me because I’m sure that some people think I’m kind of a freak being out here, and while obviously not that many people think that, some people definitely do. So I don’t do it so people think highly of me, I don’t do it to have something to put on a resume, it’s not quantifiable. I just think it’s important for students to see that sometimes there are things that are just so much more important than just doing schoolwork all the time. I think we have a campus where a lot of people struggle to find fulfillment and aren’t very happy in their day-to-day lives. For me, I found that fulfillment through trying to follow God. So I want students to realize that sometimes it’s okay, and actually good and essential, to do things that can’t be given a point value in order to find yourself. So the Crim Dell Amphitheatre will always have a lot of meaning to me as a place where people can find their identity outside of the typical W&M student bubble.