You may not think of a block party as the ideal place for reflection, but Benjarman Minor found focus enough to pen meaningful words to express his gratitude, even as the DJ cranked party tunes while fellow seniors delighted in the atmosphere.
Sitting in a comfortable chair inside Russell Hall, the chemistry major from Charlottesville, Virginia, wrote on several cards thank-you messages to professors who have helped “throughout my entire time here at Radford,” he said moments after writing his last card. “I don’t know that I would have walked up and said these things to my professors, but with Radford giving me the space and time to reflect … it’s great that I can do this.”
Minor was one of many who offered up thanks through cards. Luke Grinnell wrote thank-yous to professors who have helped him toward his goal of becoming a physical therapist. He’ll attend PT school at Emory & Henry College in the fall.
“I wrote a few to thank each individual professor in my major for all the help and knowledge they've given me to become a good physical therapist and for being that adult person in my life away from home,” said the allied health science major from Salem, Virginia. “They've been there to lean on and help get me through my four years here.”
Amid the reflection, a lot was happening throughout the rooms and hallways at the Senior Block Party, an event that has become more popular each year as part of the Annual Traditions Week, hosted by Radford University’s Student Affairs.
“It’s so fun here,” said senior Rose McKoy, a finance major from Washington, D.C., in between bites of popcorn. “I love all the free stuff.”
The block party had lots of free stuff and opportunities: snacks, T-shirts, balloon animals, crafts and a photo wall in which students posed in front of alone or with a friend or a group. One couple posed with one student piggybacking the other.
Many of the seniors who flocked to the party were looking ahead to commencement. “We have 29 days left,” McKoy said, noting the exact number of days until she graduates and moves into a new job she’s already secured.
For others, like Grinnell, “it’s bittersweet.”
“It's exciting to graduate and come through to that next part of my life, adulthood,” he said, “but it's kind of sad leaving all the friends that I've made over the years at Radford.”
Those 29 remaining days had a different meaning for Minor, who appreciated the party – he was there with a group of fellow chemistry majors – but he soon needed to get back to work.
“With my major, I have a lot of work to do,” Minor said, taking a deep breath. “So, for me, it's a very hectic time, meaning like a lot of work is due. I don’t even have time to think about graduation. Chemistry is a pretty intense major.”
But for a few minutes, Minor chilled with friends at the party, which is the intent of the celebratory week, said Associate Vice President for Student Life Tricia Smith.
“Traditions Week aims to provide a pause for reflection and celebration as students head into the final stretch of the academic year,” Smith explained.
In addition to the senior block party, there were days for freshmen, sophomores and seniors. On the schedule, too, was Spring Renewal for Radford University Carilion students. The week wrapped with a Saturday night concert featuring Rico Nasty and BigXThaPlug at the Dedmon Center.
“Each day focused on a class of students, offering a memorable experience and a one-of-a-kind class gift,” Smith continued. “This is a special time for folks to come together in community, offer advice to those coming after them and set intentions for the next step of their journey.”
The week was “wildly successful,” Smith continued, with the highest attendance since it began in 2018. “Though some events had to move indoors because of weather, each one featured smiles, laughter and deep appreciation from attendees.”
Nearly 2,500 students attended, and 126 volunteers helped make it a success, Smith noted.
Traditions Week kicked off April 1 with First Year Field Day, an event for freshmen to revel in the successful completion of their first year at Radford. Out on Muse Lawn, students played cornhole, knocked around a volleyball, tossed axes (not real ones) and mixed it up like gladiators on an inflatable jousting stage. And, when the words “crank that Soulja Boy” first blasted from the DJ's speakers, it was a burning call to dance on the grass.
All of this happened on one of those gorgeous, sunny spring days Radford is known for.
It all felt “really welcoming,” said Chloe Leavitt, a freshman biochemistry major from Danville, Virginia. “Having an event where everybody can get together is nice, and it makes people want to be at Radford.”
Leavitt’s first semester on campus was “a little rocky,” she confessed, “but I’m doing well this [spring] semester.” She attributes much of that success to the connections she’s made at Radford, not only with students but with faculty, too.
“If you make connections with different people, it makes it easier to go out and do things,” Leavitt said. “And if you need help with classes, you have a good connection with your teachers. And it just it makes it makes it better.”
Sophomores had their night on Tuesday at Halfway There, a celebration of the midpoint of a student’s Radford journey. Each second-year student was given a challenge coin, which they spoke their wisdom and wishes into before flipping it into the campus fountain. Each student also had a chance to enter a drawing for a $4,000 Presidential Scholarship.
The winner?
Jackson McBride, a biology major from Burlington, North Carolina.
Twenty-four hours later, the Twilight Celebration – moved inside to the first floor of Heth Hall this year because of rain – honored juniors as they wound down the semester and prepared for their senior year. Like the block party, Highlanders enjoyed free food, games, music and the traditional lantern signing.
Students attending the celebration were asked to write, on a white cloth lantern they were given as they walked in, their hopes and commitments for their senior year at Radford.
“Get into law school, to be happy and to act with a greater cause than a simple ‘I want to,’” said Abby Vaught, a criminal justice major from Christiansburg, Virginia, reading the message she had just penned on to her lantern.
Vaught walked into one of the Heth rooms, where conversation flowed, and snacks were plentiful, with friends and fellow criminal justice majors Maria Massana and Jessica Wright. As she reflected on her two semesters as a junior and looked ahead to her senior year, she confessed that she was somewhat surprised she had made it this far.
“I didn't think I was going to do anything at all. I just thought I was going to be a menace to society,” Vaught said, joking and laughing with her friends. But like so many students here, she found her place at Radford.
“I went to a mock trial interest meeting, and I met this really cool professor [Don Martin], and he totally turned my life around,” Vaught explained. Now, she’s a member of Radford’s blossoming mock trial team, which Martin, a litigator and former counsel to government agencies, coaches.
Connecting with faculty has been common for the three friends. “I've built a lot of bonds with the professors I've had,” said Wright of Fauquier County, who hopes to someday work in homeland security. “And they've given me a lot of guidance.”
Massana has many friends, she said, who are “going to do awesome things” because of the guidance they have received from Radford faculty.
“Yeah, it’s like having 30 extra parents,” chimed in Vaught, who’ll have plenty of thank-you cards to write this time next year.