Dear (insert name of any adult in my life here),

Wow. I feel like it's been forever since I've seen you. I'm in college now and I'm doing well, but I know you know that. I love seeing your comments on my Facebook posts and pictures and I love getting an occasional text from you asking how I'm doing. The truth is, college is great. I love everything about my life and I'm having an amazing time. But, in reality, being an adult is hard. (Seriously how did you and everyone else make it look so easy?) I haven't mastered waking up without my mom coming in to get me and I still don't have doing my laundry down to a science. I'm occasionally scared to check my bank account and I don't always make the best decisions with how to manage my time. But, there are a few things I am pretty good at, and I feel like I owe a lot of them to you.

It's easy to get distracted in college between school, boys, college friends, friends from home, and having time to yourself. A lot of times faith, values and your "true self" gets put on the back burner. It's easy to not pray or to do something you "promise you would never do" when there's no one here to hold you accountable. However, my faith and my morals have stayed important to me throughout college. Why? Because they were important to you. You all showed me how important it is to be true to yourself and to not let anyone tell you differently. You showed me the importance of not changing who I am even when everyone else does.

You taught me the importance of motivation. I know how important it is to be on top of everything and to hold myself to a high standard because of you. We all know college involves doing a lot of things you don't want to do from pulling all-nighters for chemistry exams to attending random speakers for extra credit. But, your words of wisdom and actions set a perfect example for me. Sometimes being an adult and being in college sucks. However, having people like you in my life motivate me to be the best person I can be academically, spiritually, and in every other possible way.

I miss you all very much; from your cooking to your daily rants in class, every adult in my life has had some form of impact. Teachers: you have taught me so much more than just how to graph a polynomial function. My best friend's parents: I miss you cooking and your smiles every day. Coaches: I miss you ability to push me to my limit and still put a smile on my face. Youth Ministers: thank you for everything you taught me back home that has kept me close to God here. Counselors: the memories we made together bring me joy every day. Mom and dad: I miss you more than you know, I guarantee it.

I hope I'm making you all proud. You have given me so many great examples of how to live my life and I can't thank you all enough. I'm so blessed that we crossed paths so that you could touch my life in the way you did.

Love,

Maggie