This weekend I graduated undergrad. I said goodbye to friends who have become family, a community that has become home and an institution that has impacted my life irrevocably.

I want to thank my college for all the free T-shirts and sweatshirts. My sleepwear is set for a very long time and I will be reppin' my college for years to come.

Thanks for all the free food ... over the years, midnight munchies and steak night has kept me fed throughout some rough weeks. It is so nice to have a college that feeds you.

I am so thankful for all the professors who pushed me, taught me, challenged me and were always there for whatever you needed. Going to an institution where there was an open door policy to all professors was something I took for granted and was so lucky to have.

I had so many opportunities to get involved and have leadership positions. I did varsity sports, led organizations and was able to become more well rounded.

I enjoyed going to college surrounded by cornfields. Though it was boring at times, it was a small, homey town full of charm and I could not have imagined four years anywhere else. I also never felt unsafe, which was a relief to both myself and my parents.

I am beyond grateful for the study abroad experience my institution offered. I was able to go to London and receive credit and have my life changed in the process.

I am glad that a bunch of really cool people decided to come to the same school so I could make some lifelong friends and have four years of amazing fun and memories.

I am glad I got to move out on my own and stretch my legs as an adult. Learning to cook and do laundry was pretty valuable in the long scheme of things.

I am so happy to always have a community to fall back on. I will always be a part of something bigger than just myself and my education; I was a member of the class of 2016 and a part of the greater alumni association. I will proudly have that alumni sticker on my car from now on.

Moving on to home owndership, marriage, grad school and a new city, I am finding myself growing very nostalgic about this little college community that has taken great care of me for four of the best years of my life. Though at times I hated everything about it and other times wanted to be anywhere other than the library or basement classroom, I know these are things I will look back on fondly saying "those were the days." Someday, I will bring my kids to visit my undergraduate college and show them the room where I had that horrid math class and the table I always sat at to study for big tests and my favorite smootie at the coffee shop. I will tell them that this was the place where I grew into an adult and had some of the greatest times of my life. Than I will leave and say, once again, thank you for my perfectly unperfect four years of undergrad.