There are two types of models in this world: there are supermodels, and then there are the average looking individuals who teach at AMES… we call them role models; and for the four years, and especially my senior year, that I have been an “AMESian,” these models have taught me the significance of hard work and the importance of meeting deadlines.

Unlike Tyra Banks or Heidi Klum, I wasn’t as attracted to the faculty’s thighs or behinds as I was to their love for what they do. As most of you may know, in recent months many Americans have been affected by a terrible and contagious illness, and I’m sad to say that AMES was one of the schools infected. Yes, those of us who suffered from senioritis showed signs of extreme laziness, hunger, and an unusual fear of work. However, the dedication of the AMES staff to its students was the medication that cured this deadly sickness… for most of us anyway.

Now as we leave behind the sagged couches, step down from the title of ping pong champion, and begin a path to adulthood; I ask one question: will we strive for greatness, using what we have learned in these four years as our tools for success? Or, will we let our talents go to waste and be swept away by the wind, like Dr. Church’s hair? Now, I don’t shave my legs enough to be able to catwalk, but these past years have taught me to walk down a different runway… the runway of life (sung to the tune of “Circle of Life”).