Walking into the Brafferton at the College of William and Mary, it is clear that President Katherine Rowe has already made her mark after just one year at the College. She points out the art that covers her walls, from an Auguste Rodin sculpture to calligraphy piece drawn by students. According to Rowe, each is equal in value. She speaks thoughtfully, clearly aware of her significance in the community.

I began this story with pretty close to an outsider’s perspective on Williamsburg’s bar scene. I enjoy going out occasionally, but large crowds of loud people often make me uncomfortable rather than helping me let loose, and I tend to stick to the fruity-mixed-drinks-and-wine section of most drinks menus. In other words, I am not used to bar crawls.

This summer, I spent 31 days volunteering with the College of William and Mary’s American-Bosnian Collaboration Project in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Project, the oldest international service trip at the College, began in 1998 when a visiting Bosnian scholar visited campus to teach a course about Yugoslavia’s political disintegration.

I didn’t get my driver’s license until halfway through my freshman year of college. Don’t gasp - I know it’s unusual for a teenager in America. To be fair, I lived right in the middle of my town, a sprawling suburban landscape just west of DC. I walked to school, I biked to work, I took the metro, and I inevitably bummed rides off my friends. Given my reliance on public transportation, when I came to Williamsburg my freshman year, I was thrilled that students ride the buses for free.