Reflecting on who I was when I first started here…
I don't know if I would be me that I am now without UD…
Oh, that's so scary to think about, wow…
Trying not to cry.
I used to look forward to day camp.
That was such an exciting moment to know UDSAP was here again.
I met Brother Tom Pieper through UDSAP.
I just remember a lot of the kids like screaming all the time, like BT, BT,
because that's what we call him, BT.
I'm always at the park when the vans arrive.
They’d always, every one of them as they'd run by me, ‘Hi BT. Hello BT, Hello BT.’
Looking back now, I can see God so clearly through BT.
I think BT was the first person I had behind my back.
He really advocated on my behalf.
As the summers went on and she started to look at the UD students, you know, one of the things she
looked at and said, ‘I want to go to UD,’ you know, and behind, in our back of minds, it's like,
‘Oh yeah, that's a great wish,’ and all this kind of stuff, not thinking all that much of it.
It's not really in the cards for people to go to school or make it out of Salyersville. And so,
for me to dream of coming to UD, it kind of felt like it was out of reach.
And then each year she would reiterate the same thing. ‘I want to go to UD.’
I remember, I would just pray about that every night,
and that's what I would wish for my birthday candles.
We really didn't start thinking more seriously about that until she was like sophomore year.
And the UD students would say, ‘Well, you've got to really study, you know,
and get the good grades.’ And that's what Morgan started to do.
For me to realize that people do believe in me and believe that I could do it really just like
gave me life and determination to get here.
I got my UD email on January 4th, 2017.
And it was ‘University of Dayton, You're a Flyer.’
And I was like (gasp), like took my breath away.
It just brought everybody to tears that it was like, this is going to happen!
So when Morgan came as a first-year student, I think she was pretty nervous,
as many first-year students are. But she dove in head first and got involved in a ton of things.
And she really just began to blossom into this, this leader on campus who was welcoming,
was funny, and really just embodied a lot of the Marianist charism of inclusivity
and wanting people to come to the table and spend time with her. And to be all of who they are.
Here she is, four years later, going to be graduating from here
and it's like, she has made this a reality.
It's too good to be true, but it is, and wonderful.
As she is getting ready to graduate, one, I am sad to see her go.
Because I think she is a real asset to our community.
But I'm also just so excited to see where life takes her, and
hear about all of the great things that are in store for her.
I either want to go into civil rights law,
or I want to be a campus minister – two totally different things.
I just want to let people know that that someone hears them, someone believes in them.
I want to give back to people who grew up like me,
to kind of pour back into that cup, and let them know that
I'm in their corner. We can do this together.
It’s very bittersweet.
And it's not like it's over because I'll be a Flyer forever.
But like, these four years, I wouldn't change a second.
It all happened the way it was supposed to. And I am who I am today because of that.