Dear Student Government Association at the University of Southern Mississippi;

I would like to start this letter off by thanking each of you for leaving your mark on my life in ways that I could never imagine. It's because of you that I love myself, and I think that is impossible to ever truly take away.

At the beginning of my freshman year, I thought that the world was against me. It seemed like every thing I had gone out for in college did not want to work, and I thought that nobody loved me. That was until I made my way up to the SGA office and signed up for my Freshman Associates Interview. I was a nervous freshman, but I approached then president Jeffrey George and said "Where can I sign up for Freshman Associates?" The rest is history.

Freshman year, I was not the most involved FA member. However, when I started to come out of my shell, I realized that I was one small part of something bigger than myself. Freshman year was one for growth, and I got to finally plant my roots when I found myself in SGA.

While the end of my freshman year did not go as I had hoped, I was ready to focus on what I could do to be involved during my sophomore year. My sophomore year, I finally found my place. I actually started to feel like people loved me. Looking back, I think they always did, I was just too focused on leaving Southern Miss to really see it. That year, I gained my wings and started to soar. I am forever grateful for the experiences of my sophomore year for shaping me into the member I am today.

So now, we approach the midway point of junior year. What comes next for me in terms of how I am involved and continue to grow? I cannot provide an answer to that right now, but I do know that what is to come is to be amazing.

I think that it is impossible for me to have the Southern Miss experience that I have had without the help of SGA. In SGA I have found people to look up to. Our close knit community has allowed me to experience things like EaglePalooza and meet my best friends. I can affirmatively say that I would not be the person I am today without the help of it.

So thank you, SGA. Thank you for allowing me to find my home away from home in the office. Thank you for giving me some of my best friends in Cam, McKenna, and Lauren. Thank you for seeing the best in me when I could not see the best in myself. Thank you for giving me someone to look up to in Wynde. I truly have no idea where I would be today without the help of my SGA. Words will never be able to express how truly grateful I am to be a small part in such a big organization. That big organization now takes up a large part of my heart.

All of the love in my heart,

Emily Rasch