I'm DONE!!!!!!!!!!

Dear friends, family, and friends who might as well be my family--

Wow!! The last four years have been quite a ride. This past weekend, I graduated from my beloved NC State and FINALLY commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. I have had so much to be thankful for these past few weeks, but what sticks out the most to me are the beautiful people in my life who have gotten me through the good times and bad. It is on this that I want to dwell.

I wish I could make everyone understand just how amazing and loving my family is. My parents raised me to be self-sufficient, disciplined, and respectful of those around me... oh yes... and to always eat all my food (not to mention my dad's exhausting strategy/chase/war games in the woods that would test even a top notch athlete's stamina). Little did they know they were preparing me for success for a military lifestyle. While Dad and I spent hours outside trying to out-do each other in every game we played, Mom was inside "planning my life". My mom didn't have a particular expectation for me job-wise, but she certainly had many suggestions for me to consider! I think I turned her planning upside-down when I told her Senior year of high school that I wanted to join the military. It was my mom who found out about ROTC and suggested it to me, but it was both my parents who supported the decision I would eventually make to join. They continued to support me during college - paying for bills that my scholarships didn't cover, feeding me TONS of food when I came home for breaks, and lending attentive listening ears so whatever stories I had to tell them. Without them, I doubt I could've taken the leap to join an organization I knew nothing about.

I cannot mention my family without mentioning my sister, Sarah, and her husband, Sean. They both have been such a source of joy to me. I like to joke that Sean is the brother I never wanted, but he is far from it! Sean has been the best brother-in-law a sister could want. I look forward to seeing Sarah and Sean in about a week during my cross-country trip to Fort Sill, OK. Jackson, MS turned out to be a convenient half-way stop.

Giving my speech as a new Second Lieutenant and graduate of North Carolina State University at the Animal Science Departmental Graduation Ceremony on May 12, 2012.

To my friends: you have made college bearable for me! No... not just bearable... you have made it fun!! I came to NC State dreading college because I figured it would be just like high school except harder and with weird, crazy people who wouldn't like me. Well... thank goodness college is NOTHING like high school and even though most of y'all are weird and crazy in some way (hahaha), you are AMAZING people and I would have shriveled up and died under the pressures of college LONG ago without you!! A special shout-out goes to the girls of Apt 304 at Village Green... you all were often times of highlights of my week.

To my friends who might as well be my family: there are only a handful of you, but you've been SO influential and supportive that I can't think of you as anything BUT extended family. One of you has been an accountability partner, one has been my roommate of a week in the summer of 2007, one of you has been an "old lady" mentor since my freshman year, and one has been my older, wiser, (shorter) clone. :P I love you all dearly, and believe me when I say it's been so difficult to say goodbye to each of you.

To my teachers: there have been many throughout the last four years, but if you are one of the few who is reading this blog, it is because you have also been a huge influence in my college life. One of you found talent in me in an area where I thought I had none. Through your teaching and encouragement (and donuts!!), you earned my trust and respect... so much so that I felt compelled to want your opinion on a piece of work I'd always kept to myself! Thank you for that and for becoming such a good friend. :) One of you put up with my pure confusion, many questions, and habit of accidentally falling asleep in your class during the fall of 2009. You have always surprised me by how much you invest in your students. Though your tests are killer and I found that the entire course should have come with a disclaimer of "know this or die"... I wouldn't have traded that experience for anything. Your class taught me a level of resilience and dedication to studying that I didn't find in other classes, and I felt such a sense of accomplishment when I actually passed the class!! :D Thank you for your dedication and for keeping in touch throughout the semesters.

I wish I could write to every individual person who has impacted my life, but I would have to write an 800 page book and even that wouldn't be enough. Thank you to everyone who been a part of my life during the past four years. I hope you will continue to be a part of it as I step into a new chapter. You may not be able to see me often... I may not be able to write or call as often as I want... and you may not understand half of the acronyms that I will use as I talk in military lingo. But! Rest assured you all will forever be in my mind, and I hope that this blog will satisfy some of the need to know what is happening in my life as I enter into active duty halfway across the country.



Sincerely,

Megan