Despite growing up in Morgantown with West Virginia University as a constant presence in her life, it wasn’t necessarily a foregone conclusion that Alex Watson would end up a Mountaineer. However, after considering a lifetime immersed on the campus where both her parents were faculty members and the academic opportunities with WVU, the decision ended up being pretty simple.
“I grew up right here,” she says. “For my entire life, my parents, neighbors and many of the people I knew worked at WVU. Through that, I was able to get involved with a lot of things. For example, my neighbor was a neurologist at WVU, and one of my first memories was going to her lab and participating in her studies. And then when I got to high school, I was given the opportunity to go to Honduras with the School of Nursing to volunteer and give free medical care. On top of that, I was able to go to Mexico with faculty from (then) CPASS to teach leadership to young females through soccer. Those last two trips happened right when I was in the decision-making process, and I think that solidified that I didn’t want to go far and that everything that I needed was at WVU.”