A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff
As the Class of 2025 prepared to soar from University of Mary Washington, we turned the spotlight on graduating seniors. These Eagles have spent their college years finding what matters most, rising to challenges and lighting the way for others. Before they take flight, meet some of UMW’s seniors whose stories reflect the spirit of our campus community. Read their stories.
Click to read their stories!
UMW senior Brianna Kenealy, seen here in Paris, filled her four college years with the courses it took to find a meaningful career, along with plenty of travel abroad.
There’s a bit of a cosmopolitan thread that runs through University of Mary Washington senior Brianna Kenealy’s college career. It’s called “Paris.”
She first visited with her family the summer before sophomore year, returned on a faculty-led trip as a junior, then wrapped it all up with a stint at the American Business School of Paris this spring.
Back in Virginia – her plane landed just yesterday – she’s set to walk the Ball Circle stage at Saturday’s 114th Commencement on UMW’s Fredericksburg Campus.
That’s where a series of revelations began to unfold four years ago, catching her off guard but charting her course. It’s where, as a student-athlete, she found herself competing – and winning – against teams she hadn’t expected to play. Where she discovered a knack for business administration and declared a new major, then moved by an energetic professor, tacked on a minor in economics. Where she poured herself into a capstone project that proved she could build a career that matters and see the world.
“I want to have a job that can help people, and if that means I travel and make a difference for local businesses, I think that’s really cool,” said Kenealy, an Honors student who’s set to start a master’s program in global commerce at UVA this fall. Read more.