The students at Spring Arbor University have been amazing to me in the few months I have known them. Not only did they guide me as a performer, but they have shaped me into a better person. While taking an acting class I had been struggling with a huge weight on my shoulders and only they could seem to help take the weight off, even if it was only for a few hours each week. They made me look forward to getting up each day just so I could attend class and see them, talk to them, laugh with them.

Some people have books or movies that impact their lives greatly. Some people learn life lessons they carry with them for the rest of their lives from literature or film, but I was taught wonderful things about life in the short semester that I was attending this class. The students I met showed me wonderful and beautiful things. They reminded me how to find happiness, even in the hardest times of our lives. They provided me not only with a flashlight to help me get out of the dark, but several helping hands to guide the way. These people have stuck with me even now that our class has ended. I have created friendships that have saved my life. I have met people who care about me on a whole new level like I never thought anyone could care about me. These people do not realize how much of an amazing impact they've made on me. If it were not for them, I do not know what my life would look like at this moment. They established a new confidence in me and helped rebuild me every time someone would knock me down. As I think of the future, I am excited to move forward, but I am filled with sorrow to know that I will be leaving these people. I may never see them again, but from the words of Glinda the Good Witch, "I have been changed for good."

Not only were my classmates amazing, but the professor was, and is, brilliant. She had a way of always knowing exactly what to say at every moment. She carries herself in such a way that makes you feel safe around her, at home even. I had imagined the professor as harsh and unforgiving, but I was granted a loving and supportive professor who took her time with each student, with both the curriculum and our personal lives. She offered a safe place. For that, I am entirely grateful. I hold so much respect for this woman. I hope she sees how brilliant she is. I hope she knows she is making a difference. We may not remember everything you said, but we will always remember how special you made us feel.

I can not put together any number of words to accurately describe how grateful I am to these people and the fact that I was able to be in that class at the time I was. I know now that it was providential for me to have been in this class when I was. I have no idea what the future holds for myself or the people I have met, but I do know that I will carry the memories I have from these people with me every step of the way I go.

So to the class that changed my life, I owe everything to you. Thank you.