Thanks to Kaitlin Denney, ESIA BA ’14, MA ’17, and Skye Kussmann, ESIA BA ’13, for sharing their GW friendship love story!
Skye and I met on a warm day in August while waiting to head to sailing practice. I was a scared freshman with no idea what I was getting into and Skye was the sophisticated sophomore with an air of elegance and GW deli breakfast sandwiches about her. Honestly, it really must not have been that significant of an interaction because neither of us remember it. What we do remember, however, is what came next.
We spent the next three years sitting side by side in smelly practice vans, meeting each other with snacks in study rooms around campus, and cheering for GW at basketball games. When I got hit in the face with a medicine ball during a team work out on the Vern, Skye was there reassuring me I wouldn’t need a nose job. When Skye stole one too many drink tickets at the Inaugural Ball, I was there making sure she made it home safe.
Today, Skye remains one of my closest confidants and biggest cheerleaders. We’ve traded in our dorm rooms in Foggy Bottom for neighboring townhouses in Capitol Hill and our smelly sailing pinnies for actual adult clothes. It’s a little bit easier navigating my new career and life as a grown-up knowing I have Skye at my side. Of course, whenever times get hard, we can always meet for a bacon egg and cheese at GW Deli.
