Isn't it crazy how one year changes us all? A year ago we were like a tight-knit group of people. We knew everyone's drama, what everyone was up to, and where they were. Now- we're scattered.

And I do not discuss this as a bad thing. It is not a bad thing at all actually, we have all bloomed our separate ways.

Graduating from a small home-town and expanding to a new college with new people was one of the most amazing things. Meeting people from all over the country, yet I still have a small place in my heart for the friends I graduated with.

It is beyond crazy to see where the people I graduated with end up. Some have started relationships we never saw coming, others moved hundreds of miles across the state, some are married and starting families, and others are off on their own exploring the world.

One year ago, I never thought I would be sitting here, writing this open letter to you all.

It's weird how a year has made me grown as a person and today I still remember people who stood out to me in those crazy four years.

There were people who gave me crazy inspiration that I never got to say thank you too. There were ones who made me shed my saddest tears. There were people who I will see in public and not even say hi to anymore, isn't is just sad? Why do we have to pretend we are strangers?

I grew into this funk where I thought I was invisible to the world. I thought I didn't matter and nobody noticed me. I thought nobody cared and nobody ever will.

But recently, I had a conversation with a girl I graduated high school with. She told me that she noticed me, and we talked about it for a few.

Isn't it crazy how you can think you have fizzed out into the world yet someone freakin notices you.

To my class of 2017, I am going to say what Rascal Flatts said in the song "My Wish" that played that day..."I hope your dreams stay big, and worries stay small."

We can pretend like we don't remember each other, and we don't remember the memories. But we do, they were what built us into the adventurous soul we let travel the world now.

To my class of 2017, keep dreaming and explore the hell out of the world.

But...don't forget where you came from.

(Thank you Bobby Stoeckert for the Inspo.)

-Kate