Ryan Farley '16

RyanFarley_2016Hello! My name is Ryan Farley, and I am a member of the Class of 2016. Thank you so much for your generous donation to the Williams Alumni Fund – I am so grateful to attend a school with an alumni network as strong and giving as Williams.

Although my father is a member of the Class of 1973, I did not grow up dreaming in purple. In seventh grade, during a family trip to the Purple Valley, I decided that Williams was too cold for me (despite my dad’s argument that that blustery November afternoon was the warmest day Williamstown would see until May — I now know that to be true.) But in the summer before my senior year of high school, my younger sister and I attended volleyball camp here, and I just knew the moment I set foot on campus that I was meant to spend the next four years of my life at Williams.

I’m majoring in history, which is definitely not something I ever would have thought I would find myself doing. In high school, history was my least favorite subject, so during my freshman year at Williams, I did not even look at the history section of the course catalog. But in my sophomore fall, I was lucky enough to get into Professor Scott Wong’s “Two Years in America” class about the United States in the years 1968 and 1969, and that’s when everything changed. Prior to taking the course, being a history major had never crossed my mind. I had signed up for the course to fulfill my Writing Intensive requirement, but instead I fell in love with the subject and the time period, and I decided I wanted to study modern United States history.

Outside the classroom, I play on the varsity Volleyball team and serve on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. I also work in the Sports Information Department and am an intern in Alumni Relations. I was thrilled at the opportunity at Williams to continue playing the sport I love, and it is even more special to be part of such a storied volleyball program. We have appeared in 3 consecutive NESCAC Championships, winning the title in 2013 and 2014 capping off an exciting 2014 run with an appearance at the National Elite 8. I spent last spring studying abroad in Prague, which was an incredible experience that I am very grateful for, though  I’m looking forward to one final semester in this very special place!

Thank you again for making this wonderful Williams experience available to my classmates and me – It’s a great day to be an Eph!

 

Sincerely,

Ryan Farley ’16

 

On February 17, 2016, the entire student body came together to celebrate all the things that members of the Williams community do for one another and to show their gratitude and “EphPreciation” for your Alumni Fund contribution by signing thank you cards. As such, the signature inside your card may not belong to the student profiled on this page. To learn more about the EphPreciation event,  williams.edu/ephpreciation; to read about the students your gift impacts, visit williams.edu/ephprofiles.