Williams ’25: Living Life Without Regrets

Cadet Harrison Williams ’25, a 1st Class private, grew up in a family with plenty of ties to VMI—his grandfather, Edward “Ned” Addison ’59, is an alumnus, and so are several uncles and cousins. Throw in a sprinkling of family friends who are alums, and there was quite an influence—yet once Williams applied, was admitted, and arrived on post for the Summer Transition Program, he found himself wavering in his commitment.

“I was kind of homesick,” he admitted, and he was wondering if a more typical college might be a better fit. At that point, he sat down and made a list of the reasons he wanted to attend VMI. One of those reasons was wanting to be with others who also had clear and definite goals for their lives.

“It’s a lot easier to have big goals when you’re surrounded by people who want to do the same big goals that you want to do or who always aspire to do big things,” he commented.

As he sat and made his list, Williams could also remember what had originally driven his interest in the Institute—conversations with friends’ fathers who seemed somewhat regretful they’d missed out on the chance to attend VMI.

“I kind of thought to myself, if I went anywhere else, would I look back later in life and regret not going to VMI?” he asked himself. “And I thought it was a regret that I could possibly have in the future. And I’m someone who wants to live with zero regrets. And I do not regret my decision to come here. And I think if I went somewhere else, I may regret not choosing VMI.”

With no regrets and less than 5 months remaining until graduation, Williams can look back with pride on all he’s been involved with. He’s an economics and business major, a member of the Cadet Investment Group, which manages a portion of the funds invested by the VMI Foundation, and a 1st Class representative to the Honor Court.

Coming from a private high school that also had an honor code, Williams found VMI’s emphasis on honor and integrity a natural fit.

“It feels good to go to a place where you know that no one is going to have some advantage over you while taking a test because no one is going to cheat on that test, or going to a school where I can leave $100 pinned to a desk in a classroom for a week, and if it moves, it’s because someone wants to put it in a place where I’m going to find it,” he noted. “Even better if I accidentally left it there, but for the most part, no one’s even going to touch that.”

This year, as a 1st Class cadet, Williams has been focused on leaving the VMI Honor Code just as strong as he found it. A central part of that has been giving “stoop talks” to rats—a critical outreach effort as members of the Honor Court make Corps education a central goal.

“It’s very important that you make known to [rats] that they could ask questions at any point because there’s a lot of confusing things about our system with intricacies and the rules,” Williams explained. “They had lots of questions that they asked … So I think it’s good that they’re not afraid to ask questions on something that is very important, and that shows that they actually care about this place and care about the Honor Code.”

During his cadetship, Williams has been pleasantly surprised to be the recipient of several scholarships supporting his education.

“VMI is a very special place, and I think people at VMI have much more opportunities to get scholarships than any other student at any other school, especially with the support of the alumni who really care about this place,” he stated.

That vote of confidence by alumni has propelled Williams forward toward success.

“[Being a scholarship recipient] gives you incentive to do really well at this school, especially knowing that alumni who went here love this place so much and value the current cadets who are going through this right now so much that they’re willing to donate a good portion of their money to help contribute to their success,” he said. “Scholarships at [VMI] have been very beneficial for me, and it’s not just the money that matters. It’s the thought that goes into them that really helps me want to succeed here even more.”

Already, he’s planning to give back when he joins the alumni ranks.

“VMI is a really meaningful place for me,” he said. “So if I want to continue to support the school and support the [cadets] who choose to go here and kind of jump into this abyss of the unknown and take on a challenge and really have this desire to build a strong foundation for their lives, I would want to support that. It feels meaningful that alumni are continuing to support [VMI] because if they didn’t, this place sure wouldn’t be what it is today.”

After graduation, Williams plans a career in banking, most likely in Charlotte, North Carolina.