University of Mary Washington - Index

University of Mary Washington - summer08 - Index

position he accepted as director of business development for
an interior remodeling company in Northern Virginia. His
task: move the company into government contracting.
“I turned down some other offers
because this job provides the chance
to work with a start-up business
department,” he said.
One summer, he was a management
intern at Geico, which led to his being
hired as a product manager for a
Jason Istvan
in 2004
year. He also worked as a product
manager in the government solutions
branch of Monster.com. With those
experiences and the class work he completed at Mary
Washington, Istvan feels he is well prepared to begin his
career. He credits, especially, his thesis advisor, economics
professor Steven Greenlaw. “He’s been a big help over the
years,” Istvan said.
It hasn’t been all work and no play, though; Istvan ran
track and was an orchestra member until his senior year.
He encourages students to take advantage of the variety of
programs on campus.
“Read the weekly emails about events. Wander around and
you’ll find unadvertised concerts, events, poker tournaments,
free food, and public lectures from guest speakers. I gained
everything I was hoping for from a liberal arts education.”
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Greta Krafsig owned a business before she ever even set foot
on campus. She ran Whiteoakstables.net, a virtual reality
game for girls who like horses. With a free online version
and more features available with a subscription, the game is
still going strong. Membership recently topped 100,000, the
venture generated several thousand dollars in profit last year,
and Krafsig has used the lessons she learned while earning
her computer science degree to improve the game. “I have
plans to do a 3-D version where users
can see their own characters and
horses,” she said.
But Whiteoakstables.net is
for fun, and now, Krafsig’s landed
something more serious. She started
work this spring for a small software
Greta Krafsig
in 2004
development company in Reston, Va.
“I feel like I’m well-rounded enough
that I can go into any aspect of
computer science,” she said.
But gaming, especially gaming for girls, is her love, and
at UMW, she enjoyed game programming and graphics
courses with Jennifer Polack-Wahl, an associate professor
in the computer science department.
“I liked all the classes, and I liked being in a smaller
school. I didn’t want to go to a school like Virginia Tech,
where I would be lost in the crowd. Here, I’ve been invited
to professors’ houses for barbeques. It’s more like a family
feeling,” she said.
During her four years at UMW, Krafsig also experienced
one other graduation: She moved from virtual horseownership
to the real thing. She bought Erin, a 9-year-old
thoroughbred, last year.
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This summer, Robert Lynn will paint in Paris. In the fall, he’ll
return, bachelor’s degree in art and art history in hand, for
a post-baccalaureate program in painting. Then he’ll apply
to the nation’s major design schools for a slot in a master’s
of fine arts program.
“I came here thinking I was
going to be an English and computer
science major. I took Art I, and
midway through my freshman year, I
became more interested in art history,”
said Lynn, who is a Washington
Scholar.
Robert Lynn
in 2004
He’d wanted to be a painter since
he was 8 years old, and he decided
his years at UMW would provide the
ideal opportunity to explore that passion. The grants and
other opportunities he received during his college career
have further fueled his desire.
“I’ve been to Rome and New York City,” he said. “I’ve
had exhibit opportunities on campus, and my professors
have been supportive.”
Their encouragement has validated his art, a contemporary
style of painting that includes abstract collections of cartoon
or children’s book-style images. And if Lynn finds himself
teaching art one day, he said, he will model himself after
the instructors he had at UMW.
“Students and faculty are not separate entities; there’s a
real connection, and they’re involved in our lives and our
career paths.”
Lynn, whose mother received her teaching certificate
from Mary Washington in the ’90s, has a history with the
school. Still, it wasn’t until he processed into the centennial
convocation with other members of the Class of 2008 that
he realized the event’s historic impact.
“To see the whole UMW community celebrate was
amazing.” d
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