Dear Western,

I remember stepping on your grounds when I was 16 years old, a junior in high school. My parents were eager to start the college search process and so was I. I had only visited one college campus before then, and I have to say, Pullman just wasn’t screaming to me, “This is where you need to be!” So I had an open mind and a blank slate of expectations when I drove up to Bellingham to see you. And the moment I stepped on campus, I could feel you screaming to me, “This is where you need to be!”

So thank you. Thank you for quickly becoming my first choice as I went into my senior year of high school. Thank you for sending me my acceptance letter and for making me genuinely excited to go to college.

I remember driving up from Lynnwood on move-in day, ready to see my new dorm room and meet my new roommate. I was excited and nervous, not knowing what to expect as I embarked on this new adventure. How was I supposed to know that in four years you would pack my life full of people, experiences, and classes that would make such an impact on me?

So, thank you. Thank you for introducing me to my first roommate and to a whole floor of great girls. Thank you for late-night dance parties and dinners at the Viking Commons. Thank you for "floor wars" and, unfortunately, quiet hours. Thank you for two years of on-campus living and the joys of on-campus dining.

Thank you for 10 a.m. classes and thought-provoking professors. Thank you for making me think in new ways and seeing ideas from new perspectives. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of a department that celebrates creativity and imagination. Thank you for late nights staying up to finish the homework I procrastinated on. Thank you for notebooks full of lecture notes and a USB full of rough drafts.

Thank you for allowing me to study abroad in London. Thank you for the friends I met abroad and the University of Westminster. Thank you for my flatmates and daily walks down Oxford Street. Thank you for the excursions and the late nights walking home from the pub. Thank you for the opportunity to see a new culture and the hope of returning one day.

Thank you for the friends that went on this journey with me. For the friends who I came in with and unfortunately are not leaving with. For the friends who I met along the way, and who have stayed by my side. For the friends who have seen me at my best and at my messy bun, irritated, tear-stained cheeks worst. For the friends who held my hair and who posed for pictures. For the friends who listened when I needed somebody there and for opening themselves up to me as well. For the friends who made me laugh till I almost peed my pants and smile when I was down. Thank you for bringing them into my life.

I started to find myself here with you. I was pushed outside of my comfort zone, went on more ups and downs than I can count, and started to realize the person who I wanted to be. I found my passions, my people, and my problems here, all challenging me to become a better person than the one I started as. It sure hasn’t been an easy ride, but it’s one I would not give up for anything. I truly believe that you, Western, has made me a better person.

I never thought this day would come. The day where I get to don a cap and gown in celebration of my time with you. It seems like these past four years have gone by in record time and I’m wishing I could have some of those four years back. Just for a second. But I know that I can’t and that it’s my time to go. You’ve taught me all you could, given me all you could. It’s been four years of opportunities and experiences that I will never forget because of you. So again: thank you, Western.

Thank you for everything.