No thanks, Tom Hanks. It's a line from the movie Sisters with Amy Poehler and Tina Fey I use all the time, but mostly when I'm just joking. But this article is dedicated to all the people I would like to say "no, thanks" to. Let's get started.
No thanks to every teacher and school administrator who told me I wouldn't amount to anything. And no thanks to the girls who bullied me to the brink of insanity.
No thanks to the boys who never called me back, and the ones who said awful things when they did.
No thanks to my freshman college roommate.
No thanks to Type 1 Diabetes.
No thanks to people who don't listen. No thanks to people who don't care. No thanks to people who tell you that you aren't good enough. No thanks to the people who don't take time to understand you.
No thanks to the people who told me I was crazy or stupid or wrong.
No thanks to my sperm-donor of a father.
There are tons of people I want to say "no, thanks" to, but there are also some people to whom I would like to say "thank you for everything."
Thank you to my amazing Odyssey community and, most of all, our phenomenal E-board, especially our Editor-In-Chief, Ari. Thank you all. I love you guys.
Thank you to my college professors for believing in me, trusting me, and pushing me to be my best.
Thank you to the doctors that saved my life four years ago.
Thank you to my friends who listen to me complain about literally everything. You've been there when I needed you guys the most.
Thank you to my big sister and brother-in-law, for being people I can look up to. Y'all may be an old married couple, but you're also the best.
Thank you to my mother who has been by my side and helped me up after every single fall, literal or metaphorical. I love you, Mom.
But most of all, I have to thank myself.
I have to recognize myself for getting through each day and managing to wake up every morning, get myself out of bed, and going to school. I don't think I've ever made such a concerted effort for anything else in my life and I have to say, I'm proud. I did the thing.
None of this has been easy for me. I'm not here to complain about my life, but my college experience has been tough. Things didn't always go my way. I had my ups and my downs. There was lots of laughter, but there was also a lot of anguish and despair. I'm lucky I had people to help me through it. I'm lucky I had people pushing me in the right direction. I wish some things had happened differently, but I wouldn't have changed the bulk of it for the world.
And lastly, thank you to my readers, for sticking around to read my ridiculous content.
Did it all for you.
