Remember the opening scene of "High School Musical 3" when the Wildcats were losing and Coach Bolton took the team to the locker room and told them that they had 15 minutes left in the season. Fifteen minutes to prove to everyone out in the crowd that they were going to be back to back state champions. This scene sticks out to me because that is how I feel about my college career; I have 15 minutes left of undergrad, 15 minutes left to be with my friends, 15 minutes left to spend with my professors, 15 minutes left to be a Belle.

I have spent the best four years at my life at a college who's mission is to stimulate the modern woman and empower her to become someone whose presence will illuminate a room, city, state, or even a country. I would have never in my wildest dreams thought that one school could not only impact my life but completely change me as a person.

When I got accepted to Saint Mary's College, they promised me one thing: discovery. They promised me the discovery of myself, the discovery of the universe, and my place in it. As a young 18-year-old girl, I did not know who I was and what my place in the world was. I barely knew what I wanted my major to be and how that major would end up benefiting me in the end of my college career.

I was lost; I was wandering around aimlessly in this world trying to figure out what my purpose was and how do I get on that path to reach it. In the beginning, I thought those words meant very little because I was not satisfied with who I was.

It took some time, but in the last four years I have discovered who I am; I am a strong, independent, hardworking woman who has the drive and determination to stand up for what she believes in. I have been developed from that wandering girl to a woman and I have Saint Mary's to thank for that. Being apart of a community of strong empowered woman that are across the world motivates me to want to do great things. It fuels my fire to push beyond the boundaries before me and make a change in the world as well as help others discover their place in the universe.

As I write these words, I am overcome with emotion because while undergrad is over, being a Belle is eternal. I will forever be indebted to Saint Mary's because they changed my life; I do not feel that any other school could have created such a long lasting impact. Even though my four years are up and I only have about fifteen minutes left I am positive of three things; the first is once a Belle always a Belle, the second is that Saint Mary's fulfilled their promise of discovery, and the third is that The Avenue will always lead me home.

Thank you Saint Mary's for changing my life!