John Gibson ’26 initially underestimated the academic challenges at Virginia Military Institute, leading to a rough first semester, but his determination to improve transformed his approach to learning.

Harrison Williams ’25, a cadet at Virginia Military Institute majoring in economics and business, researched the wisdom of investing in the United States for his honors project, “Sustainable Debt Limit Estimates for the U.S. and 20 Other OECD Countries.”

College was the last thing on Cameron Thomas’ ’27 radar in high school. Instead, he was looking to enlist in the military once he graduated. That was until he started track his junior year, specifically competing in pole vault.

The College Debates and Discourse Program at Virginia Military Institute continued its development throughout the fall semester, beginning with a partnership with the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and the national College Debates and Discourse Alliance.

Becoming one of the co-captains of Virginia Military Institute’s men’s soccer team, Colin Blandford ’26 didn’t expect to carry so much weight. It was a stark contrast to him serving as captain in high school.  

Business and computer science were two industries that Warner Collier ’24 saw opportunity in. Coming to Virginia Military Institute, he wanted to cast as wide of a net as possible, which brought him to major in economics and business, with minors in computer science and cybersecurity.

Gaining real world experience was a high priority while attending college for James ‘Alex’ Baber V ’25. The economics and business major from Richmond, Virginia, landed an internship at Tandem Investment Advisors, headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, for the summer. 

“Having my brother here was definitely a perk,” Matthew said. “It was nice to know where I'm going to go, I already have a guaranteed friend. We were best friends growing up.” 

Ty Swaim '24 based his decision on attending VMI for the opportunity to play baseball, the trust he had with the coaching staff, and the expectations they had for him.

Noland Griffith ’24, a Virginia Military Institute cadet majoring in economics and business, presented his honors thesis, “An Exploratory Analysis of Crime From Randomly Selected Neighborhoods in Richmond.” He said there are different aspects of crime that affect life in Richmond neighborhoods.