Three-and-a-half years ago I packed my mom’s van up with my favorite things with my college check-list complete and a few hours later arrived on campus. That first week was the worst week of my entire life.
I didn’t have any friends, wasn’t very social and had a roommate from Hell.
I wanted nothing more than to drop out and go home where I was comfortable, where I had friends, where I would never get out of my small town.
I took one hard look at all my friends back home and the places they ended up within a couple months after high school and I knew this is where I needed to be; not home with a baby and an abusive boyfriend or drinking at the local tavern every night.
I stuck through those first couple weeks and after that I was making friends, enjoying classes and in a new dorm room with a new roommate who I liked.
Early sophomore year I took Media Writing and that is when I decided to change my English major to communications with a focus in Journalism. I had always been an avid writer but my professor, David Blow, showed me that I could combine my passion for writing with a career and actually look forward to getting up for work every-day.
The next few years flew by faster than I would like to admit; between long-distance boyfriend drama, my mother’s third marriage and my struggle with anxiety and depression, I’m now sitting in my dorm room watching the days fly by til graduation in December.
Over the last three years, I have made friends that I know I will have forever. We’ll be flying all over the world to stand next to each-other on our wedding days and to be there in the hospital when our first kids are born. They’ve become my family and I owe a lot to them. I would love to name them right here, but the thing about friends like that is that they don’t need to be reminded how much they mean to me, I show them every day.
Words can’t explain how much I’m going to miss this place, the food at Huden, Flubb’s Halloween parties, Killington and my amazing professors.
I have so much to be thankful for and so much to be proud of. This school has opened doors for me that I never even knew where there. It might sound a little lame, but I’m crying just writing this. We complain so much about things in life until we realize that they are only temporary, this is our temporary home.
I wouldn’t even be sitting here without my mom, first off, pushing me every single day, reminding me why I was here and why I couldn’t give up.  I have to thank each professor who took the time to push me, even if it was a negative push. I wouldn’t be here without it. I need to thank the friends that turned into family, the friends who picked me up every time I fell. I need to thank this school and community for the opportunities it has given me and the doors it has opened for me.
As I move forward with the next chapter of my life, I will look back on this place fondly and remember all the incredible memories I made on this campus and in this town. It’s not goodbye, it’s a see you later!