Dear Students at University of Mary Washington,

I don't know any of you, and until last week, I didn't even know your school existed. I know you have no clue who I am, and probably had no idea where Truman State University was before last week either. However, on Feb. 15, I learned President Troy Paino is moving to your school in the fall. This inspired me to write you a letter.

Writing this has been one of the hardest things I've ever done. It's primarily because I'm still in shock that President Paino is leaving Truman. It's also because Troy Paino is impossible to put into words.

To your school, Troy Paino is currently just a man. To Truman, he is so much more than that. He's our biggest cheerleader. He's a role model to every student that walks on our campus. He's a father figure when you need one, and will always and forever be our own personal T-Pain.

If you ever have the opportunity to meet a current Truman student or an alum who had the privilege of having Paino as president, I can guarantee they have a personal Paino story. He's willing to make guest appearances in promotional videos for student organizations. He stops his very own workouts to cheer on students on group runs. He has even taken time out of his schedule to teach courses. He'll take selfies with students if they ask him and makes us fantastic videos during breaks just to tell us he misses us.

A piece of Troy Paino's heart will always be a Bulldog. Every action he has made in his last 10 years on our campus has shown how devoted he is to our school and I have no doubt in my mind that he will always hold Truman in the highest of regards.

With that said, I fully believe that he will do the same for you. President Paino is a man that puts every ounce of himself into making the community around him great. I'm honestly jealous that you get him all to yourselves next year, but I'm also excited that there will be a school somewhere else that understands how wonderful this man truly is.

As a senior here on Truman's campus, I'm lucky to be leaving at the same time as President Paino. However, knowing that he won't be on campus when I visit as an alum is pretty numbing. While Truman is great in so many ways, President Paino was a large part of what made my four years at this school wonderful.

So, here we go. We're handing the torch to you. Please understand that a man that over 7,000 students' love is about to become your president. Please try your hardest to appreciate him as much as we do here at Truman State University. We'll be keeping tabs, seeing as a majority of us are already T-Pain's Facebook friends. You're allowed to love him as much as we have, if you can.

We only have one rule for you: You can't call him T-Pain. That's our term of endearment. Good luck.

Sincerely,

A Truman Student