Thank you Concordia. For Everything.

For the last four years I have flitted about in your Residence halls, shouted in Anderson Commons, nested in the Atrium, ate far too many Maize fries and purchased obscene amounts of Peace Tea. I have pulled a few too many all-nighters, burned a couple bridges and skipped a couple classes a time or two. I have been to every bonfire, Johnny Holm dance, Homecoming game and partied in the middle of every Cornstock (shout out to that 3D effect at OKgo!).

For that, I say thank you.

I say thank you to Concordia for teaching me about myself, and that I operate in a fashion that isn’t similar to others. I say thank you to Concordia for showing me that finals week is meant for studying and also study breaks at midnight.

Thank you for classes that taught me not only subject matter but subject critique. For classmates that taught me respect, difference, deference and the ability to be at peace with oneself. For a major that has challenged me more than anything else I could have imagined, in ways that I can only describe as difficult.

Thank you for pushing me to take classes that I was not entirely in love with (shocking, I know) and then consequently forcing me to see patterns, connecting them to things that I do enjoy. Thank you to every student production and organization that I was a part of, which helped me recognize how important each person is to a final product, from editors to prop masters.

Thank you to individuals like Bruce Vieweg, President Craft, Paulette Dixon, Karen Jensen and many other Professional Staff and Administrators who realize that by being a part of our lives as students that it impacts everything we do. Because even though we may only be here for four years, they are remembered for many years after. Thank you to Professors who have not hesitated to tell me that I wasn’t doing my best because they knew my best was better than what I turned in, and lo and behold, it was.

Thank you Concordia for allowing me to be here and for always being with me. Goodbye everyone. Soli Deo Gloria.

Katelyn Henagin

Katelyn Henagin graduated from Pierz-Healy High School in 2010, and grew up in both Pierz and Worthington, Minnesota. She is graduating in 2014 with a Philosophy Major and a minor in Psychology. If you feel like talking to Katelyn, striking up a conversation about Harry Potter is always a good choice.