To my lovely school,

First thing’s first, thank you for changing me. Even this year may of been filled with some of my most regrettable actions, but also most wonderful, it’s something I couldn’t exactly change if I tried. I don’t mean to sound cliche or over top, but all in all, I know the importance of my first year.

So thank you, for forcing me to be an adult even if I thought I wasn’t ready for it. Thank you for making me cry for two hours when my parents first dropped me off. Thank you for being expensive and forcing me to get an on campus job so I could learn what it’s like to actually work. Thank you for giving me people that I’ve grown so attached to, one’s who have made me happier than I could ever describe. Despite how much I may of worried if I met the right people here and if I belong, those doubts instantly faded away whenever I’m really here in IC and this community.

Even though the food may not compare to home cooked food, I’ll thank you for the food anyway. Because still, you’re making an effort and that doesn’t go unnoticed. Thank you for making me anxious throughout my academics, it helped me realized how important it is to actually keep putting an effort in your work all year round. Thank you for the all nighter I had to pull last finals week last semester, it gave me more encouragement and proved to me that the work I was doing wasn't impossible. For the lessons that I’ve gained here, academic or not, they’ll remain.

Thank you for helping me realize that I am not lonely when I’m alone. Once classes are over, everyone likes to take some down time in their room, myself included, but when I was back home, I could run downstairs to my parents whenever I didn’t want to be in my room. Thank you for giving me a room where I feel comfortable with myself, but also a room that I can leave at any moment to go be with my friends. Thank you for not making me feel embarrassed when I’m alone at the library, the embarrassment that I had in high school. So that being said, thank you for being nothing like high school. And thank you for making it feel as if my weeks here go by like days, time has never gone by so fast before, which is why I know I made the right choice to be here.

And one thing I will take from you, Ithaca, is that there are priorities. Thank you for making me realize that I have to put myself first and my priorities first, one of which being academics. But also, thank you for teaching me that I don’t have to be a perfect student and that a 4.0 GPA isn’t so easy to come by. And most of all, thank you for teaching me that the rest of the world isn’t judging me as much as I think it is. In high school, you’re surrounded with stares and rumors, thank you for creating and environment where I don’t have to worry about what the rest of the world thinks of me and I can focus on what I think of me. See you in the fall, and for the next three years.

Sincerely,

a soon to be IC Sophomore