I was there. I know you felt alone but I was there. The sleepless nights, the days you were so busy that you forgot to eat, the nights you scolded yourself for going out with the family when you should have been studying. Yeah, I was there but it was you who pulled it off. I saw the tears and heard the prayers coming from your room late at night when you should have been sleeping. With tears in your eyes, I watched you finish assignments you just knew you were gonna fail. Now thatis courage.

I watched you throw your heavy backpack over your shoulders and with eyes that told me you hadn't slept all night, you studied at school all day and then worked until late that night. I saw you gloat about one grade and cry about another all in the same day. I watched you regain motivation and lose it in an hours time. I sat back and watched college slowly drain all of the precious life out of you but you never gave up. You continued to fight and look at you now.

Now that you're graduating, everything is going to change. No more scheduling your life around school AND work. No more wasting five hundred dollars on a book you will never open. No more locking yourself away in your room until that 15-page paper is completed. No more waking up 7 a.m. to drive 30 mins just to find out that class was canceled. No more nights stressing out over a test you just couldn't seem to pass and no more feeling like this day would never come. It is finally here.

It has been a long, hard, and stressful four years and this is just from a girl looking in. You never seem to give yourself enough credit. You did it. You turned in the assignments, you passed the tests, you aced the essays and you EARNED your degree. This is a huge accomplishment and I hope you take it as such. No one can take this from you. You can finally breathe. You made it and I could not be more proud of you. I could never amount to your strength or courage and I am so blessed with your presence.

You can finally say goodbye to this part of your life and say hello to a whole new reality. I am so excited for you. So here's to something bold, fresh, and new. One chapter of your life is closing and you're about to dominate the next chapter. I cannot wait to see what brilliant things you do this time. Congratulations and don't forget to pop the champagne and celebrate like you never have before. You deserve it. I love you.