It’s senior week and we are highlighting some of the members of the Class of 2021 as part of our #HumansOfLongwood series. Wherever life after Longwood takes them—a new job, graduate studies or an internship—these students reflect the goals and achievements made possible in a close-knit community that promotes student involvement, values inclusion and nurtures citizen leadership in whatever form it takes.

Casey Williams ’21
Hometown: Suffolk
Major: Business administration with a concentration in management and finance; minor in economics and supply chain endorsement
Next step: Working as an operations manager at Target Upstream Distribution Center in Suffolk

Longwood has given me so much in the last four years. All the experiences I’ve had have made me into the citizen leader that every Longwood student strives to be. Studying abroad, publishing research, taking challenging courses, being a member of the Cormier Honors College and all of the leadership opportunities are just a few of the ways that Longwood has helped me prepare for success in the future.

The highlight of my college career was breaking the decade-old Longwood women’s 5K record in March and becoming the first cross country woman at Longwood to finish all conference since we entered the Big South Conference. This was the last race of my running career, and being able to have the best race of my life was so special. I started running my freshman year of high school. If you told me this would be how my career would end, I definitely would not have believed you. Running takes a lot of hard work and dedication, so this was my dream ending to the past eight years of running.

After graduation I’m starting a job at Target Upstream Distribution Center in my hometown of Suffolk. I’ll be leading a team of 30 to 50 members every day as operations manager. I did an internship there last year. I am also planning to start my MBA through Longwood in January 2022. I did the study abroad program in Thailand the summer before my junior year. This was the best trip of my life. Dr. Melanie Marks taught us so much about Thailand’s history, culture and people. My Longwood experience has been full of adventure, but this one was one of the greatest highlights.

The best part about Longwood is the community. The energy on campus when everyone is walking to class and seeing each other on Brock Commons is one of my favorite parts of being here. I made so many lifelong friends. I could not have been as successful as I have been without all of my coaches, especially Brooke Craig, College of Business and Economics faculty and fellow students, who have been by my side encouraging and challenging me the whole way. Farmville has become a home away from home, and I will miss Longwood so much when I graduate!

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