Thank you guys so much for everything. I have unending gratitude for you being and staying in my life. It does not matter if you have known me since I was five years old or if we just met this year in college, you have made such a large impact on my life and I could not and would not want to imagine my life without you.

When I look back on my 18 years, the first memories that come to mind are with Heather. Making memories at lunch and recess throughout grade school were some of my favorite times. Playing house, writing and singing songs, and creating new games filled up our youth. As we grew up, we joined Christmas and church choir together, which was the best decision we ever made because those are the memories I still laugh about to this day. Even though over a decade has passed since we first met, our friendship has lasted through the years. I am blessed everyday to know that I have made a life-long best friend.

Sixth grade became one of my favorite years of grade school because I met Alex Bokatch. I remember the announcement three weeks into sixth grade that two, new students would be joining our class. I never would have guessed that one of them would turn out to be my best friend. The past seven years I have spent laughing, complaining, and making inside jokes with this amazing boy. He is such a true friend and gets me and my sense of humor like no one else.

I met Miss Lauren Stepanski several times before we began at Padua, including running into her at JCPenney, and I remember hoping that we would become friends since we both loved theatre. Due to our shared love of theatre and the Italian language, as well as an incident called “The Bruin Blaze,” Lauren and I became best friends. She is one of the funniest girls I have ever met and has incredible talent on stage. Over our four years of high school, Lauren inspired me to be my goofy self and taught me to aspire to achieve my goals.

One of my guy friends throughout my time at Padua was Joe Westover. Joe is the funniest, kindest, and most understanding guy I have ever met. He stuck with me going on five years now and started calling me “Shack” which was my nickname at Padua. My high school experience would have been pretty dull without my best bud making me laugh while simultaneously making me roll my eyes because of the ridiculous thing he had said or done.

Even though Autumn and I knew each other through Italian class, we did not become friends until Junior year during Kairos. Senior year was a great year of bonding for us because of Girls of Grace, AP English, sorority sisters, and Shrek! When we both decided that John Carroll would be the university we would be attending, we decided to room together. This was the best decision I have made! Our friendship has grown so much this year and we know so much more about each other. Autumn is such a blessing to me and has made my freshman year of college incredible.

Betsy Love is absolutely the best girl I have ever meet. Although she seemed shy and quiet at first, once I got to know her, she has the best personality. I hang out with Betsy everyday and she always finds a way to make me laugh. Through her dark humor and love of Rhapsody Blue, Betsy has made my life so much better. We always have an amazing time chilling in Chesterton, watching movies, getting coffee together, and obsessing over Lin Manuel-Miranda. I am so happy that I have gotten to know this beautiful girl over the past year and cannot wait to spend another three years making memories at JCU!

Emily is the first, real friend I made at JCU and I am unexplainable grateful for her. She is always crazy, goofy and completely herself. Passionate is the word I would choose when trying to describe her because in daily conversations it is easy to recognize the issues which she cares about. Emily’s personality is bubbly and uplifting and I love spending time with her! I am so excited we have the rest of our John Carroll career to make fun memories together.

I want to conclude by saying you all have absolutely no idea how much you mean to me and how much I love you guys. So, because I definitely do not express my gratitude enough, thank you for being my best friends. I really do love you.