Dear Appalachian State,

I do not really know where to begin because there is honestly too much to say, but I will start with saying thank you. Thank you, for challenging me, helping me grow, and shaping my mind to become beautifully complex and open. Looking back to my Freshman year, it's quite laughable to think about the person I thought I would be on my last year here at App State. Instead of staying in my comfort zone with the major I was initially decided on, the high school friends/significant other that I clung to, and the ideas that I was accustomed to, you pushed me away from these things, as if you were saying, "trust me, change is good." And it was better than good, it was life altering. Change challenged me to rethink my world and helped me come to find who I truly am. This change came in the form of thought-provoking professors, strange and eclectic individuals that became friends, and these breath-taking Appalachian mountains that make you feel so small, yet help you to understand that you're a part of something much larger.

ASU, you have also given me so many glorious memories that were indeed, so college. Some of these memories include crowd surfing at house parties, going on long hikes with incredible views, going to football games to lose my voice and maybe my dignity, blizzard days and meeting my life-long friends where we got into plenty of mischief. These memories are beautiful and colorful, but there are some that are of course bleaker.

These other, much darker memories were nothing less than heart-breaking, and I know that I am not the only one who experienced them in my time here. There was a lot of loss in our four years, between break-ups, betrayals and the loss of very close friends and classmates. In the moment of these trials, where we may have felt as if it hurt too much to ever move on, we moved on. And I'm not really sure how we move on, but I do know it has something to do with this unique community that chooses love over hate, and these mountains that are better than any kind of medicine. Through these experiences here that pushed us to our breaking points, I now know we will be stronger.

Now looking to the future, I want to thank you for one more thing. Thank you Appalachian State for inspiring me to never stop learning, and to never stop seeking the truth. I came into this university as a passive thinker, one who believed my path was pre-destined and that I was to graduate, get a great job that paid well and that would make me comfortable for life. But you showed me that I actually wanted the opposite. By the opposite I mean I wanted to take risks, follow my passions and to never stop questioning the world. You cultivated in many of us, a critical mindset, that will never let us settle for the mundane or what is not the best we can do.

So thank you Appalachian State, for teaching me so much-- not only through the books and the papers, but through the experiences, both good and bad. We will never forget our time here, and we will carry on these 4 years full of love, laughter and light where ever our paths lead us next.

It's been great to be a Mountaineer.