Well, I did not think that I would end up writing one of these, but here I am.

I guess I should start by saying thank you. Thank you to my parents, Tim and Erika, and grandparents, Chuck and Judy, for all the sacrifices that you made while Manfred and I were growing up. There was never a lot, but there was enough and we always made ends meet. Thank you Oma Jacky and Opa Fred. While you won’t be here to see me graduate, I know you’ll be watching. Thank you, Manfred, for all of our adventures in life. I’m certainly glad to know that you’ll always be by my side, unless you get lost — and yes, you get lost all the time, but it is okay because I’ll find you. Thank you to David Crockett for putting up with all of Manfred’s and my malarkey. Thank you to Keesha Middlemass for advising me, despite our common quarrels. Thank you to David Tuttle for our well-natured Twitter banter, despite the fact that the campus progressives clearly do not understand the level of common bro-ship disposed on both of us merely by being champions of the green and gold.

Thank you to the Trinitonian for covering all of Manfred and my shenanigans — though if we had not provided that bit of excitement on campus, y’all would’ve closed down years ago. Thank you to ResLife for never sending me to conduct board despite my sometimes juvenile behavior. Thank you to the department of Spanish — you know what you did.

Thank you to Luke Ayers for putting up with all of my well-intentioned life-lessons — just remember that I’m just making you a better man. To the members of Tigers for Liberty, thank you for trusting Manfred and me to guide the ship, lead the charge and topple the barricades of progressive totalitarianism that covered our campus prior to our arrival on campus. To the future leaders of Tigers for Liberty — you are prettier than them (even you Isaiah), you are tougher than them and you sure as hell will win, just keep up the fight. To David Guenthner, thank you for reaching out and taking Manfred and I under your wing when you saw that we were fighting the good fight. To everyone who passed me, thank you.

I guess in conclusion, thank you for the memories, thank you for the challenges and thank you for the life lessons that made me who I am today. Thank you Trinity — while I won’t donate to you — not yet at least, and until David Crockett is named President of the university, my money will go to Tigers for Liberty. Oh, and last but not least, thank you to the endowment and financial aid department for making it possible for me to attend such a great university despite not coming from the six figures suburbs of Houston, Dallas or Austin. Thank you to Brad Durschlag for being my admissions counselor, accepting me and staying in touch through all the trouble Manfred and I surely got him in for letting us in. And a special thanks to Adrienne and Carolyn for all the prayers – even when I didn’t deserve them you never gave up on me”Oh — I promise this is the last one — but thank you Chip Roy for providing employment post-graduation.