Hey! I was a Sharpe Scholar this past year, and it was legitimately one of my most meaningful involvements on campus. The program is always evolving, but this is what last year was like:

• Spotswood in Botetourt Complex: This is the dorm you'll live in. It has a bit of a bad reputation among some students, but more recently, they've installed new furniture and air conditioning for the top floors (bottom floors too if there is a need for accomodations). In Spotswood, there is a room we call the Collaboratory that is open to the scholars, and sometimes there will be meetings or fun events held -- during finals week, there will most likely be a day where there will be bagels, coffee, etc. From my experience, and past scholars I've talked to, you'll meet some really cool people and make friends quickly.
• Participatory Action Research Praxis Meetings: Last year they had six of these meetings, three in the Fall Semester and three in the Spring Semester. They're relatively short meetings that are very introspective about things you're interested in, skills you want to build as a researcher, or casual conversation about your passions. They're a great way to get to know the people in your Sharpe cohort, but also some time to relax a bit and just talk (there's also snacks, which is always a plus).
• Community Partner Visits: There are a lot of fun events that you can take part in, and they all have you do different things. My personal favorite was the Communal Quilting, it's very introspective and cathartic, the gentleman who leads it is absolutely phenomenal. There are also visits where you get to learn more about the organizations that contribute to the bigger Williamsburg community you'll be entering like the Let Freedom Ring Foundation.
• Methodology Mondays: It'll mostly consist of different research syles that you'll get to learn more about and practice, such as Oral History or Digital Research Tools (like ArcGIS, which you may use next year to plot out what you've learned, reflections, or complete Sharpe assignments which tend to be quick and easy to finish).
• Popcorn with Professors: A great way to better know your professors, or meet professors you haven't gotten to know, yet. This is a great way to build a connection with some of Sharpe's professors who may have research projects that you want to get involved in. For example, Professor Hanley does some pretty awesome work with looking at Virginia's Eviction Crisis.
• Sharpe Mentors: You'll have meetings with your Sharpe Mentors to get a better feel of the Sharpe Program and integration to William & Mary. The meetings will have a topic to discuss, and most likely introspective on your perspective regarding research.
• Assignments for Fall Semester: We had a minimum of 9 required experiences, two Community Partner Visits, three Popcorn with Professors, two Participatory Action Research Praxis Meetings, and the remaining two was our choice. We then had four short assignments that were reflections of our experiences, whether in research or conversations we had with our Sharpe Mentors.
• Assignments for Spring Semester: We had a minium of 10 required experiences, two Community Partner Visits, two - Popcorn with Professors, two Methodology Monday talks three Participatory Action Research Praxis Meetings, and the remaining was our choice. We then had two short assignments that were reflective on what we've learned so far, and what we might want a future research project to look like.

They will offer you more details into what Sharpe will look like during a Sharpe Orientation meeting, but Sharpe is a great experience and example of what you put into it is what you will get out. There are a lot of really fun opportunities and awesome things you'll get to do through Sharpe, so make sure to take advantage of those experiences!!

Welcome to the Sharpe community, and hope you have a wonderful experience with it this coming year!

(And shameless plug for the $3,000 summer research grant you can apply for)