Farewell to Lake Forest College and fellow graduates

By: Jemia Cunningham

Posted: 5/7/09

I know I am not the only one who has friends and memories that they are not ready to leave at Graduation. Like it or not, when we graduate on May 9, we will officially be "Foresters Forever!" People will ask us for years to come, "Where did you go to college?" We should be proud to say Lake Forest. All of us had an impact on this place, rather it be big or small. You have touched someone's life on this campus, and I hope you will take a piece of Lake Forest College with you wherever you may go.

I know I have a few lessons and memories that I will take with me when I leave LFC. The lesson I learned as a leader on this campus is that you should never, ever trust your roommate during Da Forest Mafia Game. On that note, since I am graduating, can someone please "kill" Ashley Reynolds during next year's Mafia Game?

I will always remember doing a "hit and run" in the Caf during Mafia week with Dance Team. I will forever remember hanging outside of Gregory on Saturday nights freshman year listening to the football team singing Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone." I will miss dancing sidelines during the basketball games, and I will miss all of my friends.

I learned a lesson in a strange place a few weeks ago that I'd like to share with you. I watched Hannah Montana: The Movie, and I learned "There's always gonna be another mountain/I'm always gonna wanna make it move/ Always gonna be an uphill battle/ Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose/ Ain't about how fast I get there/ Ain't about what's waiting on the other side/ It's the Climb."

LFC has given us the tools needed to climb that mountain of life. Whether you are going to graduate school, starting work, or just taking it easy for a while, there is always time to enjoy life. Please do things that will make you happy, and never give up on your dreams. We struggled for four years trying to survive college, and now, when we look back, we will not remember the horrors of exams. Instead we will remember the time we spent with friends.

At the end of our lives, we will have the memories of the moments that made life worth living, those moments are the climb, so don't ever stop climbing

Congratulations, Class of 2009.