Page 42 - 2019 Senior Will

cool seeing you come into your own over the past three years, and especially seeing you rep the music community in a BIG way on exec with SIGC. Enjoy every moment of next year, because it goes by so much faster than you think. Stay awesome, and remember that central Jersey IS a thing.
To Michael Collins: When we met at that leadership workshop at West Chester back in 2015, I honestly didn’t think I was ever gonna run into you again beyond that. And yet here we are. Over the course of the past three years I’ve seen you become such an incredible leader and musician. You always found new ways to challenge yourself, from joining the drum corps ranks, to taking on Exec in the chapter. Keep that drive, but also remember to take time for yourself and the people around you. Oh, and thanks for taking care of my best friend. I appreciate that more than you will ever know.
To Alyssa: I joined that UDMB potential rookies chat the Spring before we started at UD honestly not expecting to really make any close friends out of it. Oh, how wrong I was. Lyss, you were the first actual friend I made here at UD, and today, you are truly one of the greatest friends I have ever come across. When I didn’t make the band, you reached out to see how I was doing, and gave me words of encouragement all throughout freshman year as I worked to try to get a spot. When I finally made it, the amount of excitement you had to fit me for my uniform honestly rivaled my own excitement. You’ve been a source of laughter, you’ve been a person I could vent to, and you’ve been a source of advice and wisdom. To be quite honest, I always felt a little calmer when you were in the room, because I knew I could always turn to you to help me out if things ever went haywire. When I heard you got the Drum Major position going into Junior Year, I honestly screamed (sorry neighbors of Independence West 350B). You have such a passion for the marching arts, and it made me so insanely proud that you were going to get to represent this band. There are really no words for the level of pride and honor I felt to see one of my absolute best friends standing on the podium absolutely KILLING IT in the conducting game. What I saw over those next two years was a development into now not just an incredible friend, but an incredible leader. Every day, through your actions, you reminded us how much you cared for each and every single member of this band. Your character was reflected 1:1 through your leadership style, and I mean that in the absolute best way possible. You are going to do such incredible things in life, bud. Just keep the energy and motivation that you have, and never lose that drive to care for the people in your life, and you are set. Every day I am thankful for our friendship, and I know this is for certain one that will continue FAR into the future. In many ways, you are one of two people that I can SAFELY say I regard as the sister that I never had. You are an absolute gem of a person, and I am BETTER for having known you. Thank you Lyss, for EVERYTHING.
To Rachel: RACHEEELLLLLLLLLL?????? Hi. I’m gonna be real, I do NOT remember how we met. I’m pretty sure our friendship just... BEGAN. And what a friendship it’s been. For the past four years, you’ve proven yourself to be one of the most caring people I’ve ever met to every single person you’ve come across. You never fail to be yourself, and always made sure that what you were doing was for the right reasons. You somehow always knew what to say to help people get through whatever crazy problems they were dealing with, and I really admire you for that. Again, in many ways, I truly believe you were one of VERY FEW PEOPLE that I can view as the sister that I never actually had. Both you and Lyss helped me out through a lot, and I can’t thank you enough for that. You were always the one to call me out if I messed up, and though some may see that as a bad thing, every time you did that was a time that I NEEDED IT. Those moments always helped me realize I had done wrong, and they helped me grow far more than I could ever have hoped. The future is bright for ya, pal. I am so stoked to see what it brings ya.