Congratulations to the Classes of 2012!

I foresee a bright future. You know, when I was little, I always thought college was a big deal. Seeing my sister off to college was something completely unfathomable to me. I cried; I thought she was leaving me. I remember laying in bed the night before she was moving to college - thinking that she was leaving me. I was being selfish, but I didn’t know it at the time. 

I blinked. Next thing I knew, I was sitting in the Louis Brown Athletics Center in May of 2006, peering over the bleachers to find my sister in her black graduation gown. It was the individual convocation ceremony for the Rutgers Business School. I saw her. Even though I was 15, I was proud of her, proud she finished four years, completed a BS in marketing, and made a name for herself in Rutgers history and in the real world. I cried again, but this time it was tears of happiness. She was my sister; she was my role model. She is my role model. 

I blinked again. I graduated high school in 2008. I was so ready to get out of my little town and away from high school. I remember the white graduation gown I had and my National Honor Society medal. Rutgers was in my future, and I could not wait to experience it. I knew there were bigger and better things for me to experience and take with  me for the rest of my life. Rutgers was the door to open up those opportunities for me. 

Here I am, before you, having double majored in Information Technology & Informatics and Dance, I completed my four years at Rutgers University - New Brunswick. I graduated with the honors and reputation I intended to, made the most of my years at Rutgers, proud of everything I’ve done thus far. I can say, that going to Rutgers was the best decision of my life. I wouldn’t and don’t want to be anyone different than the lady I am today. I don’t cry because it’s over or because I won’t see my friends; I cry because I did it - so proud … I bedazzled, sparkled, and shone my way through.

My sister and I now have a new commonality to reminisce over - the stories, traditions, and changes that have happened at Rutgers. They say that college is the best four years of your life…it’s true. So, as a Rutgers alumni, my parting words for the banks of the Raritan: You define your own life by picking your friends, making your decisions, and experiencing life. College doesn’t teach you everything, but it gets you seventy percent of the way there. It’s up to you to fill that last thirty percent. Congratulations, Class of 2012, here at Rutgers and elsewhere, we did it!

Love,
Ellen
Miss Gateway 2012