Who could have known just how much four years at Coastal Carolina University taught me in more ways than one.

My time here at Coastal has been a whirlwind experience that I wasn’t expecting to happen to me. I wasn’t expecting to fall in and out of love with my degree of choice only to fall head over heels in love with it by the time I entered my junior year. I wasn’t expecting to get along with all of my professors, who taught me so much more than the lessons in the textbook, or expected to find a few friends that encouraged and inspired me every day.

I wasn’t expecting to find my voice through my writing and coming out of my shell by working with the school newspaper or looking in the mirror for the first time and actually see the bright, young woman that was always there.

Coastal has taught me so much about myself and how I, just like my other graduating peers, are important to this world and the future.

Therefore, I’m proud to be known as a Chanticleer and to be graduating from Coastal Carolina University.