Dear BYU-Idaho.

Dear BYU-Idaho,

It's a little interesting to think about everything that has occured in my life throughout the last 4 years, especially after I thought I wasn't going to survive beyond high school graduation. It's been a pleasant surprise to see how things have turned out, and that as I've gotten older, things have only become bigger and better.

Throughout the last 4 years, I've gone through 22 roommates (Rachel, Kiah, Morgan, Emma, Sarah, Michelle, Dian Tyler, Megan, Sami, Sarah, Maria, Emma, Bethany, Kristen, Hanna, Hannah, Courtney, Nicole, Lily, and Brooke), in 4 different apartments (Lamprecht, Mountain Pines, Baronessa, and Nauvoo House), taken 52 different classes with 131 credit hours, had 2 different majors (ECSE and Marriage & Family Studies), worked one job in several different positions (Housing & Student Livng Office), spent 4 semesters as the On-Campus Housing Volunteer Director, went to way to many early morning meetings, coordinated an early morning fireside with President Clark, taught Student Living to the Board of Education, was in 3 campus videos, taught Student Living even more times than I can count,  had 2 boyfriends and a single heartbreak, drove back and forth to Utah a bazillion times, worked at Nuskin, participated in approximatly 70 clean checks, had my own room for 12 weeks of a semester, had a pet fish (Travis), started a fire in my kitchen, taught 6 campus Money Management classes, survied a 160 hour internship, went to 2 Monster Truck shows, went on 2 blind dates, filled 2 bathtubs with top ramen, had 2 different laptops, took a tour of BYU, spent a week with my favorite girls in Disneyland, saw 2 brothers come and go on missions, had 7 counseling sessions, jumped off of a bridge once only to swear that I'd never do it again, had 2 first kisses, checked out 1 book from the library, attended 1 international film on-campus, picked up 96 dozen doughnuts, got married and lived in 2 married apartments, many trips to the temple, 2 trips out to the haunted swings, baseball game sunburns, played a slot machie, made a ceraminc potato, have gone 44 weeks (and counting) without a Diet Coke, survived Sam being gone to Dallas and Charlotte, 1 air show, an attempt at water skiing (....never again), Celine Dion in Vegas, bought my own furniture, read Gone with the Wind. saw Bill Cosby, took 2 roommates to the hospital, survived 3 Rexburg winters, traveled to Sacramento, hiked in Glacier National Park, saw the buffalo in Yellowstone, ate Mexican food in Jackson Hole, attempted tanning, became a mold buster, saw the Harlem Globe Trotters, rode a train, attended my first BYU game, ate a cronut, took a cooking class, took countless meals to the library and computer lab, attended 2 demolition derbies, saw Wicked with my mom in SLC, built a sushi cake for Jace's 23rd birthday, dealt with a broken ankle, visited the Golden Gate Bridge, ate at a food truck, stayed up talking to roomamtes, had sleepovers in the living room, Sam grew a mustache, fell in love with BBQ chicken pizza, participated in graduation ceremonies.... and many other things.

 I can't really describe the experience that I've had at BYU-Idaho. The opportunity to grow both spiritually and secularly has given me the opportunity to grow not only as an individual, but also as a disciple of Jesus Christ. I've had so many experiences that caused me to rely on Christ, come to understand the atonement, and strengthen my testimony that I know have been preparing me for the next steps in my life. I've learned how to learn and apply those things into my life for the benefit of my family and others.

I know that I'm unnecessarily attached to that little campus in Rexburg and will probably have a slightly difficult time when I actually graduate, but for the next couple of weeks, it's going to take some getting used to waking up and not going to work, class, spending all day doing homework, and going to bed after midnight every night. After the past week and a half, I finally understand why people plan to have their children as soon as they graduate. (No. I'm not pregnant.)

As hard as it may be, I think it's almost time that I accept that I'm moving on with my life. That my piece is moving puzzles and I have different things to focus on now.

I love BYU-Idaho and I always will. Rexburg will forever have a special place in my heart. I'm not afraid to move into the "real world" because I know that BYU-Idaho has prepared me to build Zion everywhere I go. I am forever grateful for all of those people who touched my life and provided me with so many different experiences. College has turned out to be something that I didn't realy expect it to be.

See ya later Rexburg.