Photo courtesy of the WMAA
Kelley Quinzio ’14 was born on William & Mary’s campus. Or that’s what she told prospective students as she gave admissions tours. Although she was really born at the Williamsburg Community Hospital that once stood where the School of Education is now located, Quinzio spent much of her childhood toddling around campus, attending Homecoming, and cheering on the Tribe at football, basketball and soccer games. As a native of Williamsburg, the daughter of an alumna and a former member of the Green & Gold Club, Quinzio was even pictured on the cover of the Alumni Gazette 13 years before she joined the Tribe, as a 5-year-old wearing “like eight temporary tattoos” and her Green & Gold Club T-shirt during Homecoming 1997.
Despite the fact that her mother, Elizabeth “Betsy” Dolan ’84, her aunt Kathy Dolan ’81 and her uncle Skip Dolan ’82 all graduated from the William & Mary, Quinzio was eager to have a college experience that was completely her own, although she did live in Dupont, the same freshman hall in which her mother and aunt both lived. Quinzio says that her relatives do not tell her too many “I had to walk uphill both ways to get to Blow Hall” stories, but they do chuckle about the now- defunct phone rooms that still grace the halls of Dupont. “They wish they could go through it now,” Quinzio noted, explaining that her relatives have been interested in how the curriculum has been implemented and changed over time.
Quinzio started William & Mary intending to pursue a degree in Hispanic studies, but took natural psychology for her general education requirement. After loving that class, she decided to take social psychology, again just for the GER, but by the end of her freshman year decided to major in psychology. Her minor in anthropology was similarly serendipitous, as she was convinced to get involved in the department while studying abroad in Cambridge, England, the summer of her junior year.
As both a tour guide and an intern for the admissions office, Quinzio used her extensive experience with both the College and the Williamsburg community to help prospective students and incoming freshman. Having seen how her own plans had changed since freshman year, Quinzio encouraged new students to remain open-minded as they started college, and is happy she could share her positive experiences with others. “From the admissions standpoint, they pitch community, tradition and ‘life-long relationships,’ so to actually be able to say how true it is as a tour guide was great.”
After graduation, Quinzio moved away from Williamsburg for the first time in her life, relocating to Kennebunkport, Maine, with a friend. She plans to apply to nursing school, but will first take some post-baccalaureate classes at the University of New Hampshire. Although Quinzio has been asked about what she expects from life outside of the ‘Burg, she thinks the better question is how her mother will handle the change. Quinzio says her mother is “glad I got the William & Mary experience, but she knows it’s time for me to see the rest of the world.”
Even though she is eager to explore the Northeast, Quinzio anticipates remaining closely tied to the College, through both her family and the friends she has made over the past four years. She is thankful that, even as they make plans for their future, her fellow classmates remain close. She said, “As new graduates you’re either going to burn bridges or build bridges and a lot of my friends have adopted the build bridges, mentality, which I really appreciate. What I’ve learned is that you always run into people again. Living in one place for so long, you do see how people come in and out of your life. It’s surprising how small the world is.”