I spent a wonderful 5 years at LC, and it changed my life tremendously. It is amazing how much I "grew up" and changed during my tenure at LC - there were so many fun times, challenging times, and even some tears... but I would NEVER change it for a thing! Lakeland helped me become who I am today - a wife, mother, & friend, with a successful career! Without valuable life experiences, I would have never had the opportunities with which I have been blessed.

I still treasure the friendships I made. Without meeting Kim (Kieliszewski) Wagner, I would not have met my wonderful husband. Without meeting Jennifer (Hintz) Krueger, I would not have such a wonderful friendship. I was "adopted" into their Wisconsin families as if I was born here, and I never went back to my hometown in Illinois!

Ahhhh memories! My first day at cheerleading camp when "coach" (Dawn Way-Pfaff) told us all to take a break and go to the "bubbler" - uh the what?! And, I had cracked my jaw the week before in a demolition derby, so cheer camp was not so fun the first few days!

I still love to look at the photos from our Winterim trip to Mexico with Habitat for Humanity! We pretended we were married to other students just to get a free dinner! I was "married" to Paco Godinez! Jenny, remember parasailing & the hot rides on the crowded trains to get to our worksite? How rewarding it was to build houses for the poor!

My sophomore year was the year that Carl Constable "took a big chance" hiring me as his first FEMALE security guard! I still remember the look on one male student's face when I showed up after he called for an "escort" back to his dorm. I guess he was expecting a big GUY! Laurie Marcus Stolper & I were his two lady guards & we handled everything just as well as those men!

I played in the band for a little while, enjoyed the plays with Janeen Saunier, Ryan Gallioto, and the gang, and enjoyed the cheerleading trips with all my cheer sisters and Lisa Lindsay Stephan -- especially THE IRON SKILLET!, which I still have that silly iron skillet, thanks to Kim!

Kari (Hake) Frantzen became my "little" sister for cheerleading, and we bonded immediately, especially since we were both from Illinois! Then, Kari & I co-founded the DANCZ TEAM! Yes, we spelled it that way back then... we had a good time trying to choose outfits, creating routines, & fundraising... Remember when Plymoth HS asked us to perform for their Homecoming half time - what a riot! Black sweats with big orange "P"s on them right?

My senior year included playing on the first ever LC woman's soccer team with Rachel Ojala Dumke...boy was I horrible. I don't know what made me think that was a good idea... Thank goodness the team went on to do better things!

It all came to an end the spring of 1996, when we walked across the stage in the very hot gym... GRADUATION! Happy memories, great times, and tears were shed.

Thank you Lakeland; and thank you EVERYONE, for the memories!