A two and half hour drive from Chicago, and a quick hour drive north from Indianapolis, you will find one the best colleges in the country - Purdue University, home of the Boilermakers. Whether you grew up with the term "boilermaker" being part of your everyday lingo, or did not learn what a boilermaker was exactly until after you accepted your offer to the school, you are undoubtedly damn proud to be a Boilermaker. Look up the definition of a 'Boilermaker' and you will find: "a person who makes boilers", or "a shot of whiskey followed by a glass of beer as a chaser"- take your pick, we're all still not entirely sure what a Boilermaker is either. Yet whether an alum, current or future student, or just a die hard fan- Purdue ignites a burning passion inside of you that makes you honored to be affiliated.

I would just like to take a moment to thank Purdue University for just a few of the countless aspects that make it the absolutely amazing college that it is.

Thank you Purdue for allowing us to be most productive in the early hours of the morning at Hicks underground library, or giving us Krach where we have four huge floors to find the perfect quiet place to do homework at any hour of the day.

Thank you Purdue for giving us some of the highest ranked dining courts in the country, giving us a reason to actually miss our freshman days.

Thank you Purdue for having one of the nations largest Fraternity and Sorority communities with over 5,000 students affiliated, and for providing us with an overwhelming 1,092 organizations to become involved with on campus.

Thank you Purdue for our breathtakingly beautiful Corec, where students like myself spend as much time as humanely possible, when they need a break from rigorous studying of course.

Thank you Purdue for giving us Mitch Daniels as our president- handsome, intelligent, and all about doing the most for Purdue's students, faculty, community, and campus. Mitch is the man.

Thank you Purdue for your incredible diversity that allows us to open our eyes to new cultures in ways we never would have had otherwise.

Thank you for Purdue for your absolutely amazing professors and staff whose devotion to the students make the Purdue education so great.

Thank you Purdue for the endless traditions that we hold dear to our hearts, such as fountain runs, sloop challenges, Mad Mush, Den Pops, sledding down Slayter Hill, Breakfast Club, and of course Grand Prix.

Thank you Purdue for making football season be the absolute best time of the year, no matter what the outcomes are.

Thank you Purdue for teaching that you can't win 'em all, and that's perfectly okay. Hey, our basketball team didn't make it to the sweet 16, but we still qualified for March Madness. Maybe our football team didn't kill it this year, but has that ever stopped us from expressing our school pride and love for our team? Of course not. Boilermakers stand behind our teams no matter what, and never stop supporting them.

Thank you Purdue for providing so many students a home away from home, as many of us come from as far away as California and Massachusetts, and countless countries scattered across the globe. Purdue provides us a community where every student truly feels like they belong, and that this is where they are meant to be at this point in their lives. Purdue has provided us an incomparable college experience, where so many of us had made true life long friends, and memories that we will forever look back on. Purdue is the epitome of what college should be. Academically rigorous, yet simultaneously a place where we can truly be happy, because we are all loving where we are in life, even if it is overwhelmingly stressful at times.

Purdue has taught us to cherish time, appreciate the little moments, and realize college comes and goes in just a blink of an eye. Purdue will forever be part of who you are. It will forever leave its mark in your life, and it has made us the people we are today. Boilermaker pride runs through our blood, and is something that will truly never leave us. Calling yourself a Boilermaker is a privilege, a blessing, and one of the best things that will ever happen to you.

Thank you Purdue, for everything.

Ever grateful, ever true. Boiler Up baby!

Oh, and IU sucks.