Thank you.

To the friends, family, strangers, professors, advisors, library workers, study abroad councilors, administration, residents, politicians, and U of U bookstore patrons; to the ones I have known for my entire life, to those who are a fairly recent addition to it...

To the Student Alumni Board, the specialized team of doctors from one year ago, the Utah athletics department, to The Children's HopeChest in Swaziland, puffins cereal, extra shot of espresso, the elves, and to Utah ski resorts...

To the Service Learning Scholars, Dr. Robert Forbis, my sweet grandparents, and Mazza...

To Capital Church, LNCO, wsj.com, and LEAP...

To Sage Point 812, Utenited, UPC, RHA, and otter pops, to my wild mother and schmeenie father...

To the book of Romans, American Express, and Washington DC

To the people who figured out how to make almond milk, Cami my dog, and Apple inc.,

To the friends from before and the friends just now, the Ucard office, my E pass, and dark chocolate...

To everyone in between...

thank you.

You have supported me and pushed me and inspired me. You have pulled me back up when I fell, wiped away a tear from my face, encouraged me to apply. Apply for the board, apply for the committee, apply for the honors, apply myself. You have never left my side, even when I thought you did. For the past four years, thank you.

When I look at the things I've been able to do in the past four years I usually take a deep breath and smile. The smile is because I loved every minute of it. The deep breath is because I could easily get stressed and raise my blood pressure instantly just thinking about it. So I breathe. I breathe in the struggles, accomplishments, triumphs, and tragedies that have accompanied the past four years, and I smile.

Thank you. I couldn't have done it without you.

But we did it!!! We made it to this day with medals and ribbons around our necks, we rocked the cap and gown and marched towards our "little piece of paper" we've anguished over during many finals weeks. We made it!

So now what? Some of us will go travel the world tomorrow, some will begin a new job. Some are off to grad school next fall and some will wait a few years. Some of us have extremely pointed dreams, and others will take in each day as it comes, each of us living life as well as we know how.

It's off to work, to play, to see. It's off to be what we will be....

And oh, the places we will go!