From Fountain Valley High School to The King's College in New York City to Training Camp near Atlanta, God has dropped one incredible person after another into my life, to whom I can only say "thank you."
This isn't the kind of "thank you" said reflexively upon receiving a nice plaything that will be forgotten in the coming months because new playthings take their place. This is the thank you that comes from having no alternatively adequate words to express sincere, profound gratitude, so these two simple words will have to do.
Thank you to the Phamily (especially my parents) for encouraging this leap into New York and the future, for allowing my independence to grow, for grounding me from becoming too "New York" and high-brow, and for putting up with my below-average communication skills when I get too caught up in the immediate present.
Thank you the The King's College for hiring staff and faculty committed to academic rigor, while caring for students above and beyond their set obligations. You have forced me to be busier and more stressed than I've ever been, but I'm better for it.
Thank you to the women of the House of Margaret Thatcher for becoming my sisters and convincing me that sisterhood is way more than a corny idea with no real weight. Y'all have been my foundation in New York, and accepted me more than any group has before. You've inspired me with your love, faithfulness, bravery, strength, intelligence, and overall awesomeness. I cannot say enough how proud I am of you and how proud I am to be counted among you as an Iron Woman. The relationships within this sisterhood are some of the most important and cherished memories I'm taking from these past three years. You have taught me how to better love people, and I am immensely grateful to have been blessed with you. Iron Women, Iron Will.
Thank you to friends from California and New York (especially all those special people who make up The King's College Mock Trial team) for challenging me to learn and grow. You've been the best encouragement and support system I could ask for, and I can only hope to continue building on that and paying it forward. I love y'all.
I graduated on Sunday, May 11th, 2013, was homeless walking around New York with two backpacks containing my possessions for two weeks, and just finished my week at Training Camp (T-Squad all day)—here's to the next step in this story.
