I recently attended my boarding school's graduation, and first of all, may I say congratulations to the class of 2017. I'm so proud of all of you and it's been wonderful to watch you grow into the wonderful people you've become. During this weekend revisiting that very green, very beautiful campus, I got to see some of my favorite people in the world. I had never realized how much support could come out of one place until I returned to campus. I was greeted with hugs, screams upon first sight and love all around. I hadn't known how connected I was to individuals on that campus. Speaking with numerous faculty members about how they "love reading my writing" and they share it around as much as possible, students that told me they would all read the articles I wrote together, that they'd search my name on Kentucky's Odyssey, I had a thought: even once you leave such a special place, that place will never leave you.

I gave a speech my senior year confessing my experiences with eating disorders in hopes to educate my tiny community, which I now know is truly global, and to reduce stigma for others. I entitled this speech 'Snickerdoodles.' Upon my return, the dining hall on campus just happened to be serving snickerdoodles (Thanks, Jim!) I got about twelve Snapchats of my friends eating these cookies because it made them think of me. I gave that speech over a year ago and still, to this day, whether they realize it or not, I'm still getting support and love through simple pictures of a cookie.

Having a family is something that is familiar to everyone. We all have a parent or a guardian or have had one in the past. Some of us have siblings, some of us don't.

My definition of family is Mercersburg. A community that stretches across the world is tucked in its central location is a tiny farm town in south central Pennsylvania. A beautiful campus that has the most unnecessary, wonderful features... (the doors of the chapel line up directly with the doors of the library.) Incredible facilities create walls around a tiny campus, but those walls never closed us off to the rest of the world. You stand in the middle of the quad with its sidewalks that shape themselves into a bell and breathe in and think 'home.' More important than the campus, however, is the people. They support you, they love you completely unconditionally, they spend two hours while your texts aren't sending trying to find you before they say goodbye. When you're reunited with them, two people open their arms for hugs at the same time because everyone is excited to see each other. Your teachers became your friends, your mentors, your parents. It's a family.

I'm writing this thank you for Fiona, who told me that she makes a point to read my articles when they come out, which meant a lot to me. For Zach, who walked across the graduation platform and made me cry because I was so proud. For Jay Bozzi, who took his time to make his class interesting and inspired quite a few of us along the way. For my peer groupies, you're becoming incredible young people and I love you all. For Sarah, Madi, Caroline, Mia, Grace, Sommer, Maya. You all made my four years memorable and made coming back even better. For Gnim, who made everyone around him happy no matter what. For Doug Hale, long live. For Katie Titus, may she someday find her place and become a legend (almost) as great as Doug. For Emily Howley and encouraging us to problem solve on a much larger scale than our daily lives. For everyone for leaving your own special legacy. Most importantly, for the opportunities given to me. For the cookies, for my writing, for my lifelong best friends and connections.

To the class of 2017: I hope you got as much out of this as I did. I hope the four lessons you've learned at Mercersburg is to keep up, be patient, be kind, be humble. They'll serve you well. Always remember your family. Congrats and as always, thanks for welcoming us back with love.