Cristal thinks:

Some of you may know by now that this will be my last Cristal Thinks column. On May 17 I will walk across the stage at commencement and receive my diploma. It's strange to see myself graduating from college so soon. I still remember coming to Franklin Pierce for the first time, it took two days from Texas in a mini-van packed with all of my stuff , my three sisters and my mother behind the wheel. On the way to New Hampshire, I felt really nervous because I was going to a place unfamiliar to me and would know no one, but my mom encouraged me to stick it out. When I stepped on the Franklin Pierce campus I noticed the beauty of the area. The first morning I was here by myself I walked out onto the field covered in fog and began to watch people interacting with each other as I sat there with a pen and paper I started to write a poem to express the way I felt at that moment:

Faces by Cristal A. Pinnix The lawn is filled, People walking round Lost among the crowd, Faces lost not knowing where they're bound Some alone, some with friends All wondering, "Will this ever end?" Faces wide open The circle unbroken Falling and falling all around We thought that we lost it But now that we found it Sticking around to be flawed, Only to be clean again. Returning faces from years long ago Memories break through and they show Closing doors, open windows Chances lost, and offers taken The circle of life has no chance of breaking Faces wide open The circle unbroken Falling and falling all around We thought that we lost it But now that we found it Sticking around to be flawed, Only to be clean again. The lawn is filled, People walking round Lost among the crowd, Faces lost not knowing where they're bound Some alone, some with friends All wondering, "Will this ever end?"

When I have read that poem over and over again during my time here at Franklin Pierce, I know now that I have found my home. I have made a place here. Granted there are things I wish I'd have done, like joining more clubs, learning more new things and making more friends, but I have remained very active on campus in hopes of building up the community to make it a welcoming place for the next generation of students to enter the doors of Franklin Pierce. I will miss the friends I have made here, writing for the Pierce Arrow and the Exchange, working as a Community Assistant for Residential Life in the First Year Area, staying after class to have extended discussions with my professors who have challenged me and the entire Franklin Pierce community. If there is one piece of advice I can leave for you I would tell you all to make new friends, talk to someone you have never talked to before, if you see someone down the Cafe` eating alone sit with them, everyone has a story to tell and it may just make their day to know that someone took the time to care. When I leave this campus on May 17, I will not be saying "goodbye" to Franklin Pierce University, but merely "See you later" because this place is my home and I know that I will always be welcome here. So I thank all of you who have touched my life in one way or another, those who have pushed me, comforted me in times of need, and made me smile. Without you I wouldn't have achieved my dream of getting a higher education. I know now that no matter how lost or alone I may be in the future I will still have a place to come back to, a place that will embrace me with open arms. So see you later Franklin Pierce and may there be many more happy years to come.