Senior Lilley Washburn has grown a lot during her time at Darlington. Starting her journey as an athlete, Washburn is leaving having made a significant impact on her peers and the Darlington community through her involvement in many aspects of campus life.

As a four-year boarder, Washburn has seen a major transformation during her time at Darlington.

“I think something that summarizes my change from the beginning of my freshman year to now would be that I came in as an athlete and I am leaving as a full person. What I mean is that I came in with my mind set that I was going to give my all to Soccer Academy and that was all fine, but as I grew and experienced what Darlington had to offer, I realized that I was interested in so many other aspects of the school.”

During her time on campus, Washburn has gotten involved in many facets of the Darlington community, which has helped her find her passions and grow as a person.

“I became a leader in the dorms, I got nominated to be on the discipline committee, I started getting involved in servant leadership, got involved in different clubs and even started a program called the Academic Mentorship Program in the girls’ dorms. As I was getting more involved in Darlington, I realized that I had so many other passions, so I think now, leaving and reflecting back on my experience, I’ve been able to get involved in several different aspects and I think that has contributed to being more of a well rounded person.”

Particularly, Washburn feels that her experience as a leader in the freshmen dorm has been her most rewarding role on campus.

“I really like being a role model to the younger girls, and watching them grow from the moment they step onto campus to the end of the year and I really like making those connections because I think that’s the most important thing. While yes, you want to have structure, I think it’s more important to be the confidante or the person that they really have a good relationship with.”

Through making connections, she has found herself travelling to many different countries and expanding her classroom knowledge to the real world.

“Each of my experiences were very different. I would say China was probably my favorite because it is such a different culture than what I am used to and what I grew up with in America, so I just think that seeing that culture, hearing the language, seeing the food that’s so different, and not to mention not like American Chinese food at all. I think my favorite part of China was the fact that I had just taken Ancient World History, so everything that I had learned in the textbook just came to life when I was in China and I got to see all those connections. It made me really realize how you can implement what you learn in the classroom to the real world.”

As her time at Darlington winds down, Washburn hopes to give back to Darlington in the way Darlington has given to her.

“Another goal I have for myself in the next four months is to just give everything I can to Darlington and my involvements. I just think that these last four years I’ve really tried to take advantage of all that Darlington has to offer, so I just want to continue to do that.”