An Online Going-Away Card for Ben Jones by Matt McGann '00
Today is Ben Jones's last day at MIT. Comment here to wish him the best.
As Ben wrote last month, he will be leaving MIT today to take up a fantastic new job (Vice President for Communications!) at Oberlin College.
If you’re reading this site right now, odds are Ben has touched your life in at least some small way. He created this community and made it what it is today. His writing has entertained, informed, and inspired. And he has befriended hundreds of MIT students, alums, and parents, not to mention hundreds more students who weren’t admitted to MIT or chose to enroll elsewhere. For Ben, this was truly more than a job.
So please use the comments thread in this post to leave your best wishes for Ben as he embarks on a new journey. We’ll miss you, Ben.
when i apply, a supplementary material will be dedicated to Ben Jones.
There’s a graduated senior at my high school in Taiwan who’s heading to Oberlin this year. When she asked me about her decision, I said she definitely made the right choice since Ben Jones is about to rock the school, the same way he did with MIT.
There’s not a lot more to say that everyone hasn’t said already, but thank you so much for all the effort you placed in MIT blogs. MIT blogs had truly redefined college admissions, and provided such a humane way of introducing the application process and the life of a college student to not only the students themselves, but also to the parents (my parents were definitely an example).
Stay safe, and get ready to rock another world, the way you do at CPWs past. =p
I never got to meet you, but the blogs definitely helped with making my decision to come to MIT next fall. Infinite thanks.
Ben, thank you so much for setting up the blogs and spending the time making them awesome. They are probably the reason I am going to MIT, and they also helped me think about something else during some hard times.
It was great to meet you in person (admissions people are actually REAL), and good luck at Oberlin. Don’t forget the MITers!
Hey Ben, I really don’t know what to say right now. Your entries
Hey Ben, I really don’t know what to say right now. Your entries over the past four years have been amazing. Some were emotional, others educational, all splendid. It’s sad I never got to meet you.
Congrats on your new job though.
Regards,
Aditya.
No one better then a blogger for VP of communications. Congrat
Hi Ben,
Thank you for putting so much effort into your job and for investing in every applicant. Thank you for bringing MIT to life for me, and thank you for the sage advice you have imparted in your blogs.
I’m sure I’ll hear about the wonderful things you’ll do at Oberlin.
Best of luck
Thank you for your efforts to make the college application process humane. My youngest child has put Oberlin on his final list of colleges in which he’s interested, so perhaps we’ll meet in the future. MIT’s loss, Oberlin’s gain.
All the best.
Thank you for being part of the team to accept me into MIT, and thank you for creating the blogs. These blogs have redefined college admission transparency, informing me of things I and many seniors have absolutely no idea about, while at the same time transforming the MIT admission committee from another set of unknown people (with blank faces in a dark room underground) into real people who care about the applicants before, during and after we apply and the decisions are made.
Ben,
I still feel special remembering your handwritten note on my acceptance letter. I always look forward to running into you in the Infinite, seeing your happy face and chatting with the nicest guy on campus. You, good sir, are the king of effective communication, so it makes sense you’ll be in charge of that at Oberlin. You will certainly be missed, but I know that you will totally rock at everything you ever do. Keep it real, Ben Jones.
Ben,
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you (and the blogs you created) are the main reason I even applied to MIT. Thank you so much for being as awesome as you are, I’m only sad that I only got to meet you in person once. But from the amazing blogs you write, to the emails you sent me, to the personal note on my admission letter, you’ve made the whole application process so special. Now go rock Oberlin!
Good luck. You’re the best. Carpe Diem!
BEN!! Oh Ben, you’ve been so awesome. Seriously, your blogs, comments, always helping out prefrosh and answering questions and being an overall friendly and awesome person – I’m going to miss you =(, as will many others. I’m glad to have met you, and good luck with EVERYTHING!
Tons of love,
Piper
Thanks, Ben, for creating this amazing website, and bringing the joy, tears, breakthroughs, struggles, and spirit of MIT to all of us excited about applying or attending!
Thanks, Ben, for saying “Hey! I know you!” at the CPW check-in desk this year, even though I had never met you in-person before; Facebook and email do wonders. :o)
Thanks, Ben, for offering advice, laughs, and encouragement to the entire extended MIT community.
Thanks, Ben, for being the Ben we all know and love!
Best of luck at Oberlin, and all the best wishes for you and your family!
We will all miss you!
Ben, as I’ve said before, you are basically the reason I am at MIT – and I cannot find the words to say how grateful I am for that. Cliche as it may sound, it was the blogs – the blogs you helped create, the blogs you put so much time and effort into, the blogs you loved – that helped me realize that I would actually fit at MIT.
I wish you could stay even just one more year, so all of the incoming freshmen could have the chance to meet you and really get to know you as the amazing person you are, and not just as an amazing blogger. And yet I know that, however much we’ll all miss you, you’re moving to a better place – and I’m happy for you, and your family.
…thank you, Ben.
*sad panda*…you have made mit admissions so much more personal than any other colleges..i know..applying to mit feels more than filling out an application..i was more like talking to a real life person. (and the fact that you and other admissions officers are so outgoing and friendly attest to the fact that you guys are real). Thank you! best of luck at oberlin!
Can’t believe you’re going away when we’ve just met! Going to Cambridge for a year made me realize how special the MIT community is. Thanks for creating these blogs and sharing that specialness with the world. Wish you the best at your new job!
BEN!!
congratulations on the new job, but please, keep in touch ! we will all miss you terribly !
Ben, thank you so much for being the soul of the MIT website for so long. It is sad that I’ll apply this year when you are gone, but great opportunities await you elsewhere and you must take them!
good luck and warm wishes to you Ben, wherever you go and whatever you do.
Ben, your heart has poured into making this portal a phenomenal tool and asset to MIT. The spirit of MIT is evident, and it has certainly made me fall in love with the ‘tute.
You display honesty and sincerity in your writing, jocose or poignant. I truly admire the work you do.
My words are terse. Thank you, Ben. You are wonderful.
Go with the force young padawan
You will be missed terribly but this is such a great opportunity for you I’m sure. Congratulations! Wish you the best
I always felt that the MIT admissions people were doing the absolute best that they could to make applicants feel welcome and taken care of.
My deferral letter that I read online was less of a disappointment than it could have been – I felt like I was continuing a conversation with a friend who didn’t want me to be hurt. It was written with the same kindness and understanding of the whole admissions process here.
Even the way decisions were posted in the spring, with advice either way, was highly appreciated by many.
Ben, I want to thank you for inspiring me, showing me MIT, reassuring me that my application really was all right, and making me laugh once in a while. You can’t put a price on that.
Would you consider writing a college admissions guide book for students applying to any college? Your writing is obviously enjoyed by everyone here and I’m sure it would benefit students all over the country. Remember me when you become a rich and famous author =D
Best of luck at your new job. I’m glad I got to meet you. =)
Ben, I can honestly say that without you, I wouldn’t be an incoming MIT freshman. Part of this is due to the fact that I really believe that you pulled some major strings to get me an acceptance letter, but most of it is because you made me see that MIT really was my right match, something that I didn’t believe for a very long time, and something that I’m still a bit iffy on now that you’re leaving.
So much of the college application process was scary and a huge mystery, and it still feels like a dream, reading your e-mail that Saturday morning. It still feels like a dream, seeing you at the CPW desk and having you actually know who I was, and having you write all of that stuff in my schedule, and it still feels like a dream that you’re leaving MIT and I won’t get to see you in the hallways and tell you tales of my misadventures. You’re leaving some pretty big shoes to fill, and I hope that Oberlin knows that they’ve employed a true master! Best of luck in everything.
p.s. i don’t know nearly as much about chicago as you seem to think
You’re absolutely amazing!!! Best of luck! We will miss you greatly.
Thank you Ben, for creating this website and all the time and effort you put into these blogs and this entire site. These blogs made me realise that MIT really is the place I want to apply to next year. And while I’m sad I’ll never get the chance to meet you as you’ll be leaving before I apply, I wish you all the best in the future and in your new job.
You are wonderful. Good luck!
Ben,
I never met you, but I know you’re a ROCKSTAR. Your blog entries convinced me that MIT was the coolest place in the world and nursed me through many long, despairing nights of “omg i’m never going to get in”. Thank you for all the enthusiasm you’ve had for applicants everywhere
Ben Jones, Sir, I salute you .. with both hands. Ben, I want you to know I am writing this from $0.75/minute internet onboard a cruise ship in the Adriatic Sea.. While this might seem like an atrocious cost for internet, it is worth ten times that to add my wishes as you depart.
Ben, no matter how many messages you get to this effect, you can’t imagine how much you will be missed. Though I can’t say as entirely as Karen that you are THE reason I fell in love with MIT, your work on the creation of these blogs and everything that followed from it was, in fact, probably the thing that made me absolutely sure I wanted to go there. They got me through many random nights when I should be sleeping, but alternated reading posts with finishing up some ridiculous AP English assignment. Every minute I doubted it was all worth it, I could look and see from the energy that the student bloggers and the staff expressed that I was truly sure it was the place for me. I may even fall back to reading them when a pset is getting to me and I think “IHTFP.. WHY DID I COME HERE?”.. I’ll pull up the blogs and I’ll say .. “oh yea, cause it has so many awesome people”
And you, sir, were an awesome person. I met you only a couple times for a couple minutes, but I knew that you legitimately were as nice and awesome as you seemed. Words can’t really express how sad it is to see you go, but I know this is a great opportunity and call for you .. and an even better deal for your alma matter. It won’t be the same without you. Please, please, keep in touch and absolute best of luck.
I love you, man.
Peace,
~Donald
hey ben…wish u all d best fr ur upcoming life..
ben.. i hav just joind dis blog and i wanted 2 knw regarding admission in MIT… i m an international student from india and im currently in my 11 th standard.i m planning to give the SAT examination after finishing my 12th standard.does that one year gap would effect my chances of getting admission in MIT?
what all do i need to get for admission in MIT from SAT scores to Extra curricular activities
? thnks for the help ben……….
I know that you won’t recognize me as I have never posted before (no need to- everything was covered!) and my “name” is very generic, but I sincerely want to thank you for everything that you’ve done. As a prospective ’13-er, I’m still relatively early on in the process, but I’ve been an ardent follower of the blogs for quite some time now and you’ve truly made the process that much simpler, less stressful, and more entertaining. Thanks for everything.
WE LOVE YOU!!!
You’ve done an amazing job over the years, Ben. Any inverse-square law is not going to take you away from our memories (yes, I can say memories because I think I haven’t missed a single entry of yours in the last 1.5 years… and I also think that it’s a pretty widespread phenomenon).
Best of luck!
Ben,
It’s difficult to express exactly how much you and your work on the MIT blogs has impacted my life in such an enormous way. You got me infatuated with the college that’s going to be my home away from home for the next four years, you’ve made me laugh, and you’ve even brought me to tears. But the saddest part is that I’ll never really get to see you more than I did in the few minutes you talked to me during CPW. Interesting how you can touch so many people who hardly know you. That’s a gift.
Goodbye Ben. We’ll miss you so much. Good Luck.
Jeremy
Ben Jones, you’re the bomb.
But besides that, the blogs have been a big part of why I fell in love with this school in the first place, and have kept me entertained and updated and made me feel really a part of this place before I’ve even arrived as a student. And then, as if the fact that you made the best undergraduate admissions community on the web wasn’t enough, you actually read our applications and remember us and send us emails and stalk us at PetSmart with admissions decisions. If there’s another school that has prefrosh as smitten with it as MIT, I’ve yet to see it, and you’ve been a big part of that for a lot of us. MIT will probably never again see another person quite like you.
You’re awesome. Keep in touch so we can take you out to dinner and show your our MIT-enhanced awesomeness when you come back in town.
Ben Jones the man
Man I have loved getting to know you and meeting you at CPW. The blogs have meant so much to me. Just a year ago I really did not like MIT much due to a lack of information about it and such. After reading the blogs in October and sticking with them I started to really like the culture and feel of MIT and it quickly sky rocketed to first on my list and here I am. I definitely wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the blogs and all the people in admissions (YOU!) that make this place so cool. Pleaseee let us know when you are back in town. Best of luck in your new job!
Omar
p.s. answer my facebook comment haha :p
Ben, thanks for being so passionate about your job.
Thanks for sharing so much time with our applications, and our lives. Thanks for the work you and your colleagues did to make MIT closer to us.
Thanks for being you, all the time.
All the best!!!
Ben,
Congrats on your new job, I’ve read a lot of your posts, and they’ve shaped and reinforced my beliefs for college and my life. Sometimes it can be intimidating to walk to the beat of your own drum, to strike out and be different. On paper I never would’ve guessed I could actually go to a place like MIT, but look where I am now! You’ve helped to give me confidence to do what I love and love what I do. I’ll keep in touch with you.
Ben, I have to say that you some influence on my life even though I’m not at MIT (yet :D). Thanks to that influence I met some amazing people that became my friends. Don’t forget to have fun at Oberlin.
p.s. drop by from time to time
Thanks for everything, Ben! Good luck in your new job
Thanks for letting me in to what’s turned out to be the school of my dreams
I probably wouldn’t even have applied if the admissions page hadn’t been so accessible and friendly.
Hey Ben,
I want to thank you for the work you’ve done and particular with your time spent on writing your blogs. Three years ago, they definitely helped ease the application process for me and made MIT seem much more real. Now, I’ve worked in the office with you and have first hand seen how much of a great guy you are. I wish you the best at Oberlin.
cheers
Good luck, Ben. I feel a bit sad that you are leaving MIT, though. I’m short of words, really. Your blog posts are priceless, a must-read for every college-bound student. I first read the “50 things…” post when I was a high-school kid and totally agreed with most of the items. As a rising sophomore, I agree with every single item on the list. Ben Jones is that awesome.
Well Ben, I was with you from the beginning being a parent of an ’09. I’ll miss you…but…I am very excited for you and your family. So, best wishes for your new life. I know you will succeed.
Debbie Perna
Ben –
Oh goodness. Where to begin. Thus far I’ve been one of the quieter class of ’12ers. I haven’t been very loudspoken on the blogs and haven’t stalked your e-mails too often. However, I have been standing in the shadows and watched your love for MIT hopefuls, acceptees, and current students alike fuel our hopes and dreams. You never cease to amaze me with the truthfulness of your thoughts, and even though I have never seen and met you personally, it always feels as if you care for each and every one of us. Your blog post on 50 pieces of advice had me nodding to the very end, and I will definitely take your advice to heart as I journey into uncharted waters next year. You have been an inspiration to many connected to MIT today, and I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors. Enjoy life!
– Vivi
Ben, I don’t even know you, but I think your awesome.
From your blog posts I’ve not only learned more about the admissions process at MIT and at the college level in general, but I gained a different perspective. When I’m sending in an application that I had put my soul and person into, I know a person is going to read it.
Thanks again for the memories.
Remember the taco salad? Do ya? Hahaha, Senor Pantalones!
I truly think I have nothing to say but “Thank you”. I remember many posts, the famous and the not-quite-so-much, that made my day. The 50 things to do at MIT, which I was one of the first posts I read on this entire site, and I stumbled across it again after WTP and if it meant a lot before then, it meant so much more after. And that’s just one example. The essay question for applying to be a blogger…something about a banana and a man in chartreuse, that sounded just like something my friends and I would say and helped convince me that MIT was a place where I could find people with as much appreciation for the inane, or witty, or unlable-able as me. And certain exlpoits surrounding a birthday…
Thanks for showing us your side of MIT. If it turns out, a semester from now, that MIT has been grossly misrepresented (was it you that mentioned the Q.E.D. couple in the hallway?), I will find your new email address anc complain loudly. Until that time, thank you so much for all you’ve done for me as a prospective applicant and prosepective student of MIT.
Ben,
I’ve already posted here that I appreciate the excellent work you do, but I think it bears repeating. You and the bloggers made MIT inviting, exciting, and brought a personal connection to the college admissions process. Best of luck at Oberlin, we’ll miss you.
I loved your blogs which while sometimes serious, I found to be extremely helpful, and often very entertaining to read (especially MIT Idol).
Good luck at Oberlin, and I hope you have a blast there.
hallo ben
i do not know u really but i happend to come across ur site just today and i liked it.i see this is ur last day on campus and i really don’t know what exactly to say…but just this best of luck for ur forthcoming life.anyway i want to start my college in mit and im at sea about how to start that.do u think u can help me.im from india.
thanks
Hi Ben!
I remember seeing you early in the morning at CPW as I was walking towards the student center to check in with my host. At first, I didn’t realize it was you, but then after it struck me. I was just another prefrosh, but I remember you smiling and making me feel a whole lot less nervous. I’ve said many times that my experience at CPW very much matched my impressions through the blogs, and this is a great example. The blogs have undoubtedly given me a positive image of MIT’s people. I applied EA to MIT excited about all of the academic opportunities that lie here, but the blogs and CPW combined proved to me that the community is vibrant and welcoming.
Best of luck next year!
-Li Brunetto
Thanks, Ben, for inspiring all of us!
Ben!
Ever since I first started reading the blogs WAY back when, I found all of your posts to be a source of inspiration, of hope that one day I’d get to be a part of this truly amazing community. I can’t thank you enough, Ben – and yet somehow, I never got to meet you. I wish you the best of luck at Oberlin, and for the rest of your life. You’re awesome!
-Josh
Ben,
.
Your blog entries have changed the way I approach my life and have helped with through some sad times. I thank you so much for that and regret never getting a chance to meet you. Good luck at your new job
Good luck, Ben. Thanks for all of your inspirational posts.
Ben,
You are part of a small group of admissions officers who have done something revolutionary: you have opened up the once-secretive realm of college admissions to the entire world. Your work has changed the way applicants think about the admissions process. Thanks to your posts (and the posts of the other bloggers, too!), I was felt much freer to discuss my dreams and hopes with you all than I would have been if I hadn’t read the MIT admissions blogs. And consequently, if I never had that chance, I doubt that there would be a ’12 next to my name.
When you go to Oberlin, I hope that you inspire another generation of admissions officers to communicate openly and to gain the trust of the applicants as you have done at MIT.
I wish you the best of luck.
J Colosimo
P.S.
http://jwcxz.com/pictures/cpw08/55.jpg
Desk picture?
“In the sweetness of relationships, there is laughter and the sharing of pleasures;
For in the dew of little things, the heart finds it’s morning and is refreshed”
Ben, whether you know it or not, you have touched the lives of so many students!! Provided inspiration when they were down and a helping hand when they(we) were in trouble….. All our best wishes are with you! May the lord bless yu and give you loads of success!! Thank you and best of luck!!
Hey Ben,
Thank you so much for your continued advice, inspiration, and stories! They have helped me (and others)immensely through the application process. Good luck at Oberlin! You will be missed terribly but also know that we won’t ever forget your cheerfulness. :D You will be loved everywhere you settle.
Ginger ’12
Ben, I wanted to say thank you for all the help and advice that you gave during application time and the EA to RA shift. The fact that you took your time to respond honestly when applicants usually just get a bunch of fakes and robots (the bad kind) really meant a lot to my family and me. I hope you have a great time at Oberlin. Godspeed at your new position, and if it’s possible, don’t forget us here at the blogs!
Ben,
Hope you get that life-sized Ben doll for the office that we talked about so that when I stop by it doesn’t seem so empty. Good luck at Oberlin…they’re lucky to have you (back)!
Vicky
Hey, thanks for letting me into MIT. Jack Flourey may have is own way of saying goodbye to you. You give good hugs.
Ben!! I’m the girl who met you in my dream like, a few days before admissions decisions come out! Please, please remember me!!
You’ll never know how much you have impacted my college application and my life. You are one of the main reasons I fell in love with MIT; if not one of the reasons MIT accepted me, because you have given me the courage to…let my OWN voice speak in the papers. Your sincerity radiates all the way across the net to our hearts. Even though I haven’t got a chance to meet you in person, please, pleaseeee consider this message a BIG HUG to say good luck, and thank you.
Ooops, I mean THAAAAAAAAAAANK YOUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!
You have an everlasting home, Ben.
Inside our hearts.
*hugs*
After Ben, Jack Flourey is basically the coolest guy at MIT. Just sayin’
the Best
Jack Florey would be offended that you are spelling his name wrong =D.
Ben, are you *sure* you want to leave?
Dear Mr. Jones,
While I am applying this year I am doing so because of a speech you gave at Bergen County Academies. You
were (and are) one of the most professional, honest,
and enthusiastic admissions representatives I have ever run into. I hope you keep up the excellent work at Oberlin.
Sincerely,
Watson Bernard Ladd
Ben,
I may be the one person who will not say “your blogs inspired me to apply” or “they made me think MIT is the place for me”… I am the one prefrosh who applied for the heck of applying. I am the one prefrosh who just wanted the satisfaction of getting into MIT without the intention of attending.
Yet, you saw through all that. Somehow, you managed to see just how it WOULD be the place for me, how I would fit in, how I would love it.
I applied for the reputation and the name. I got in. But I stayed for the people; all the prefrosh you accepted have already become some of my close friends, and I haven’t even met them yet. All the blogs you wrote, which I read after accepting my offer of admission *blushes shamefully* convinced me I made the right choice. And all the support you have shown us these past few months, made me realize what a great community I am joining.
Needless to say, you will be missed by many people… But I feel sorry for all those who did not know you, including myself. You are a legend who’s name will always be mentioned and who’s work will never be forgotten.
You have been great so far, so no matter where life takes you, do not let that change…
I’m sure every MIT alum/student/prefrosh/prospective is thinking the same thing: it’s such a shame, but at least you had a good run here.
Thank you for everything, and never be a stranger.
Enas Alkhudairy
Thanks so much for all the effort you’ve put in in your years at MIT, Ben. You’ve made the admissions process seem real and the admissions officers seem human rather than robots looking for perfect applications. If– no, when– I start filling out my MIT application about this time next year, I’ll remember you and your posts and your wonderful, encouraging, and most of all reassuring advice. (: You’ll do amazingly at Oberlin!
Ben,
It was this blog that made me fall in love with MIT in the first place. It was this blog that I constantly refreshed with my heart pounding until 12:00PM EST on December 15, it was this blog that I tried so hard to look away from until March 15, and it was this blog that I finally found pictures of myself (with Snively) on just the week after. This blog has been an enormously significant part of the most influential year of my life to date. Thank you for creating it. I am honored to be in the last class that you admitted to MIT.
Thank you Ben,
-Danny ’12
P.S.
Maybe I’ll run into you in the Infinite again someday. I’ll be looking forward to it.
BEN I LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
and I’m sad we couldn’t have one last coffee outing. I will miss coffee with you. And your fantastic hugs. And decorating your office on your birthday. And your lovely happy infectious smile. And… okay better stop before I start sniffling.
Have fun at your new job. Though knowing you, you’ll have no trouble managing that. =)
BEN I LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
and I’m sad we couldn’t have one last coffee outing. I will miss coffee with you. And your fantastic hugs. And decorating your office on your birthday. And your lovely happy infectious smile. And… okay better stop before I start sniffling.
Have fun at your new job. Though knowing you, you’ll have no trouble managing that. =)
<3
hi Matt!!! been to the west coast (SFBayArea) lately?
Ben, I met you at admitted students week in 2005 with my daughter Victoria. You and Matt made MIT something really special for me. I hope Victoria had a chance to say bye to you. She is there at MSRP this summer, like last summer and MITE2s back in summer 2004. Oberlin is so lucky to have you and their gain is certainly MIT’s loss. Congratulations, I wish you all the best.
Lupe (09Mom or Mom09?)
I’m sorry my this response has nothing to do with the farewell of Ben Jones(although he sounds like a nice person).I am from Pakistan and I dream of studying electric engineering at MIT.I will take my TOEFEL test this august , three SAT subject tests in October and SAT reasoning test in November.I want to ask if it is reasonable for me to apply for MIT since i never really get a chance to involve myself in extra-curricular activities because of securities reasons.So should I apply or should i just stop day dreaming about becoming a student of MIT?
I know I’m late
but Ben , we love youuuuuuu!
:(
*tear*
Ben, thank you for your personalized note on my daughter’s admission letter. Best of luck in your new career! (And I hope you come back to MIT a few years from now.)
Congratulations on the new job! It seems that you have left quite an impression after four years. I saw that Nakoruru posted, “counter-offer”. I respect the fact that you have dedicated so much of your time to enhancing an already amazing community. The way you live your life seems to inspire others to work and play just as you have. Best of luck!
LE
Goodbye Ben. Thanks for all your work!
You have really helped me to delve into myself and see what matters the most to me. Even after not being admitted, you really helped out me to be focused. You are wonderful.
Take Care and Best of Luck. You would really do well.
Thank you for all the work you have done. Although I did not know you personally, you have inspired and motivated me. You are truly wonderful and the best! Best of luck at Oberlin!