Five years ago I was amazed by the environment created by Dr. Jerald Ogg, Jane Ogg, Stan Seiber, Steve Vantrease, Tomi McCutchen, and Robert Nanney. Then, they were my Governor’s School professors. Now, they are my best friends, my mentors and my surrogate mothers. So much has happened between that 2001 experience and now. I wouldn’t trade any of it.

Some of us often mock the phrase, “Get involved.” But joining University Scholars, SigEp and working with The Pacer has led me to find lifelong friends that I would never have met had I not followed the advice. My favorite time of the year is still working with the Governor’s School program. It is a true blessing to have the opportunity of shaping the lives of young people and seeing them reach their own goals and live their own passions.

I am going to miss my coworkers at The Pacer and everything about the communications department. Ms. Tomi’s crazy stories about Alabama will forever echo in my head along with Professor Norton screaming, “Push that positive button!” I never thought that Reese’s cups could bring so much satisfaction to so many students. It should come as no surprise though, because the one who buys the Reese’s knows the recipe to make any student’s day brighter.

I was employed at The Pacer before I even set foot on campus and I hope my next job has the traits that have made The Pacer so special to me (a quote board, a wall of typos, six and sex, territorial sports lines, gaping holes to be filled, Britta filter boxes, Eric’s drawings, messy desks, a noisy fan, conversations that could never be repeated, chairs that can’t fly and some of the finest people I have gotten to know.)

I will miss the Oreo cows, Soybean festivals, rodeos, Gooch, The Pub, The Hole, trips to Paw Paw Michigan, prank calling a billboard, road trips and being in love with a scripter.

To my friends that are not graduating, I wish you the best: especially Jay, Pope and JoJo. Drew, I am thinking about Cinco De Mayo and pondering the novels that we could write. I thank Maxey, Lankford, Baggett, Crouch, Rhodes, Clapper and Stacie for the times we’ve shared.

I will end with a quote from Hunter S. Thompson that just makes sense. “If I’d written all the truth I knew, about 600 people - including myself - would be rotting in prison cells from Rio to Seattle today.”

UTM has not always been a place of smooth sailing for me. But it has been a place where I have learned how to sail my ship. And it will forever be a place that I proudly call home.