As the clock is ticking, the days are getting closer to graduation, it means one thing for most of you seniors: your careers at Castleton are finished. While this may seem like a sad post, I don’t mean it to be, because I want to congratulate all the seniors on a hell of ride these for years they have brought the school.
You girls and guys woke up at 6am countless times to experience an Al Jean workout before scurrying off to try to get breakfast or at most a bagel before you had your 8am class.
You girls and guys won numerous North Atlantic Conference championships, and played in NCAA tournaments. This year we saw woman’s basketball reach the sweet 16.  These achievements will help boost the athletics here at Castleton for years to come.
You dealt with both academics and athletics. I bet some of you did your homework on those long bus rides to Maine and on the way back if you admit it or not. The thing is you guys manage to have a better GPA than students that don’t play sports, which is impressive. What is even more impressive is that most of you do even more stuff outside of that. Some of you are CA’s, some of you are involved in a club on campus, while some of you mentor at the local elementary school.
You dealt with Hurricane Irene. The football team’s locker room was ruined, countless fields were flooded, and you didn’t even lose a step. You continued to do the best you could with what you had available. The best part was while dealing with the damage on the Castleton Campus, some of you found time to go into Rutland to help with clean-ups for families that needed help. At such a crucial time you stuck together as teams to get the jobs done.
Finally, you girls and guys were able to make long lasting friendships that will last after college. Don’t get me wrong everyone when they graduate will make those long lasting friendships. You got to spend six months with those friends, and spent time with them after the season was over. Some of you got to travel and see the world with those friends, which you will never forget.
As this time comes and goes and as you move onto the “real world,” I just want to give a thank you to the athletes and the seniors of the Class of 2014 for a great run here at the “Small College with a Big Heart.”