When I entered RM as a scraggly little freshman, I thought I had it all planned out. The plan had only two steps: find some interest in technology and graduate to make big bucks. Thankfully, the plan went awry quickly.

I most appreciate RM for teaching me to throw myself out of my comfort zone, for encouraging me to meet so many new, incredible people and for showing me that there’s so much more to learning and so much more laughter to laugh than my puny middle-school-self could have realized.

Throughout my four years in these brick walls, I’ve learned the most rewarding experiences are also the most unexpected; never did I think I would be giving such a terrible humor performance in forensics or running around in the darkness of the auditorium (in front of the audience too) to take photographs for the Tide. I’ve also learned that being surrounded by so many incredible people can be (at times) a wee bit pressuring, but at the end of the day, everyone’s on their own path, and you just got to keep on tryin’ and chuggin’ along and it’s great.

So to my freshman self and to any freshman, I would say: Don’t be afraid to throw yourself out there. What’s the worst that could happen? Literally, absolutely, nothing. (I can testify.) What’s the best that could happen? You find yourself becoming an English major. (Haha this is not a joke.)

Finally, thank you to the amazing and dedicated teachers who make their classes so much more fun than they have to.

And to each and every one of my friends who literally dragged me through the trenches of every exam, every week of mind-boggling, hairline-receding assignments, shared with me copious amounts of tea drinks and filled my high school experience with so much support, banter, warmth, and laughter I could cry (literally—doubling over and all): thank you so much and I love y’all.