I want to take these next 14 days to focus on intentional gratitude. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, not because of food, but because of the true reason for which the holiday was created, being purposefully thankful to God for all the blessings and provisions in our lives. I also treasure family time and the less commercialization of this holiday compared to others.

For today, I want to say I am grateful for the educational opportunities I have had in my life. I’m thankful for what I’ve been privileged to learn, for teachers, classmates, professors, administrators and for students I’ve had the honor to teach.

I go today to celebrate the 50th year of my college alma mater. I look forward to seeing some people whom I love, who impacted my life immeasurably. I’m thankful for how this place was interwoven in my life from the time I was a baby and my brother was in the very first class, and my dad, uncle, and brother helped ready the campus and built a monument that is still central to campus.

I’m grateful for the education I received here as a young woman and the lifelong friends I made there, and for the professors who later became friends when my family moved back to work here ten years after graduating. Then, I am also filled with appreciation for being given the opportunity to teach here, as an adjunct, since 2001.

It’s been an up and down journey at times, but overall, I’m grateful for this place, MVNU, that made me love green and blue.