Graduation is a time of transition. It is a great achievement with the promise of still greater things drawing us forward. As with any transition, it is important to take the best things from the old and carry them forward with us into the unknown.

There are some things I am ready to leave behind-hurriedly eating pizza while trying to finish a calculus lab and staying up until dawn writing a paper are on the top of the list! But the best gifts I will take with me during this time of transition are the friendships I have made through the process. There are many jokes about engineers being socially inept-supposedly engineers are outgoing if they talk to your shoes rather than their own-but anyone who has been at the e-center late at night, and watched groups frantically try to finish projects knows this isn't true. We engineers come together to work on homework and labs and we suffer under the most adverse circumstances; yet, by some miracle, we are still speaking to one another after the ordeal is over, and sometimes the most amazing friendships are formed. I have found students at CU have always been willing to help classmates on tough homework problems or to lend a quarter to someone to get a midnight caffeine fix. Through these trying times, I have made my best friends, and I will miss them greatly. No one makes it through an engineering degree alone: behind every graduate is a support group of family, professors, teaching assistants, classmates, and most importantly friends. I extend my deepest thanks to everyone who helped along the way.

Colorado offers many wonderful activities, and I have tried to fight against the attraction of the engineering center to participate in some. I shouldn't admit that I went skiing the day before my differential equations final, but now that it is all over, I am glad I did. I don't remember any of the questions on the final, but I do remember having a great time that day. I hope to take with me the memories of the sunsets over the Flatirons or the sunrise in the east (I am not saying whether I got up too early or stayed out too late, but I was there for numerous ones). Growing up in Colorado has given me a great appreciation for the beauty and majesty of the outdoors. I have found taking time for important things-such as getting out to enjoy the afternoon sun, spending an occasional afternoon playing Frisbee or soccer, or simply watching the squirrels makes my life fulfilling. Life is too short to spend every moment devoted to work. I believe that as we travel out on our various paths we will be able to enjoy our lives as much as possible by enjoying the simple things.

Thus, it is with mixed feelings that we look at this transition in our lives. We leave behind many friends, a wonderful community, and a great school, but the future holds many exciting opportunities. Whatever life holds for you, I hope that you always treasure your years here and hold on to the special friendships.

I was going to end with Douglas Adams' quote: so long and thanks for all the fish, but I wasn't sure it would make it past the censors, so instead I shall leave you with the words from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.