Next, these soon-to-be alums will move on to careers, graduate school and long-awaited excursions abroad. Here, in part one of a three-story series, several 2022 grads share their achievements, future plans and how Mary Washington has prepared them for life after college.<\/p>\n When Lu Sheikhnureldin<\/strong> first toured UMW, she gave the school an A+.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew Mary Washington was the place for me, because of how friendly and welcoming the students, faculty and staff are here,\u201d she said. An English major, Sheikhnureldin said she also enrolled because of the outstanding reputation of UMW\u2019s College of Education, where she plans to pursue a master\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n She has been a class act, spending the last four years working to ensure the University is inclusive and accessible to everyone who comes onto campus. She recently earned the Prince Woodard Outstanding Leader Award for her work leading DiversAbility, Women of Color, Students Educating and Empowering Diversity, and PRISM, as well as serving as an inaugural Farmer Fellow with the James Farmer Multicultural Center.<\/p>\n She became a First-Year Seminar peer mentor, coordinated publicity for Student Activities and Engagement, and joined the WMWC Radio club. And she helped the disabled community on and off campus, serving as president of UMW\u2019s Best Buddies chapter and performing an accessibility audit for Rappahannock Council Against Sexual Assault.<\/p>\n With plans to teach high school in Fredericksburg, Sheikhnureldin hopes her future classroom will be as warm and embracing as the community she found at UMW. \u201cMy most important takeaway from Mary Washington is that there is always a place for you \u2013 you just need to find it.\u201d<\/p>\n Gabriel Matteson<\/strong>\u2019s UMW interests can be summed up in two words: war<\/em> and peace<\/em>.<\/p>\n Majoring in international affairs and anthropology, he combined his academic passions into an independent study focused on the socio-cultural constructions of security policy.<\/p>\n \u201cIt challenged me as I learned about the real-world consequences that can happen in this field,\u201d said Matteson, who delved into topics like drone warfare and the global war on terror. With a minor in security and conflict studies, he further explored the subject for his Honors thesis and in a study abroad experience in Berlin. His hard work also earned him the department’s Outstanding International Affairs Major Award and spots in the Pi Sigma Alpha and Phi Beta Kappa honor societies.<\/p>\n But peace is always his goal, he said, so he found other meaningful pursuits to engage in at Mary Washington, including cofounding and leading UMW\u2019s Zen Garden club. He served as a Center for International Education peer advisor, Political Science and International Affairs department representative and Weekly Ringer<\/em> staff writer \u2013 and he\u2019s involved in a half-dozen other organizations dedicated to finding cultural common ground at UMW and around the world.<\/p>\n![\"Lu](\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2022\/05\/IMG_0313-300x200.jpg\")
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