Evansville, all hail to thee.

True and loyal we will be.

And we’ll fight fight fight

With all our might.

Cheering with pep and vim for white and purple.

And with every victory

Our hearts with praise will fill.

And we’ll back you with a Rah rah rah!

All hail to our Evansville. UE!

I attended the University of Evansville and I am an Ace through and through. Yes, our mascot is a gambler and it’s rather apropos honestly. I have had to take some serious gambles, some risks in my lifetime. Risks with big payoffs.

I left home for college at seventeen, traveled thousands of miles away from home to attend, far from family, friends, or anyone I knew.

• I had a wonderful four years at UE, learned from wonderful professors and mentors, made equally wonderful friends, and learned about myself and of what I am capable.

I married my first and only boyfriend, a man whom God brought into my life only days after telling God that I was done looking for myself, that I trusted Him to show me who He had for me.

• I have never regretted that decision, not for one moment.   Not from the first conversation Ben and I had, complete with my food-flirting (stealing fries from Ben’s plate at DQ).

I decided to stay home with Elizabeth for the first year after she was born, giving up my job and our second paycheck to do so.

• Things have been tight, yes, but I wouldn’t give up the milestones, the stories, the giggles, the cries, the snuggles, and the walks for anything; especially if this is the only year that I get to do so, as is often the way of the world we live in.

Life is full of risks, full of gambles, but I have been very blessed that the risks that I have taken have paid off and things have turned out well. And even if they don’t in the future, I know that I have family and loved ones to lean on and help me through it.