We aren’t always lucky enough to find a place that makes us feel at home, that makes us feel passionate about a mission, or that makes us talk about it long after we are meant to be gone – but Merrimack College is that place for so many people.

It came as no surprise to me when I found out that Merrimack’s 50 million dollar – “Together For Good“ fundraiser, had reached its goal a whole year before it was meant to be done. And though it finished early, this doesn’t mean it should be taken lightly. This was no bake sale, no side street lemonade stand, no kids smiling at you while you drive through the neighborhood – it was a community that worked tirelessly to prove that it deserved everything it has earned thus far, and so much more.

In the four years, I was at Merrimack, the school forged me into the person I was today- and let me tell you – it was no walk in the park. It was nights out, breaking the rules, crying over doomed relationships, bawling over failed essays, and jobs that fell short. It was nights spent playing cards, and days sleeping through obligations because my body couldn’t handle the stress myself and others went through the night before on duty as a Resident Advisor. It was easy failures and hard triumphs – and it was experienced that my high school self would have never dared to do – but together, with my friends, my team, my professors, my unlikely friendships with the friars – it was through this community that I survived the most difficult period of my life.

Now I get it, you talk to anyone who went to Penn State and they will tell you “We Are!” with all the pride in the world – and sure they aren’t the only ones. I guess most colleges are meant to have that effect on people… but for some reason, I know that Merrimack is different.

it isnt because I am special, it isnt because the people there are, its because we dared to be different. we dared to be small – to be unnoticed, to build passion like a powder keg until it had no where to go but out. it isnt because of the school, its because the rest of the world underestimated what we could accomplish in such a short amount of time. – but we knew – and here we are.

At the end of the day, you could tell me that this place is like any other, but you would be wrong. The changes I have seen in four years. The triumphs, the losses, the friends we grieved for – that’s what we all take with us.

At the end of the Day, Merrimack is not just a place it is a home – and the progress we have made is only the beginning. Today we stand together, for good – but tomorrow well keep working toward a future that none of us can quite imagine yet.

My name is Rachel, just Rachel, and I for one couldn’t be more proud to be a part of Merrimack’s journey, because man, has it been a part of mine.

This post is in no way sponsored or represented by Merrimack College or its Affiliates - the perceptions in this piece are not meant to be related to the college or how it conducts itself.

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Give for Good 

While the Together for Good Fundraiser is over, there are still many ways to give to Merrimack College and the students it supports. I for one know I couldn’t have gone to the school of my dreams without a helping hand from my parents, community, and scholarship opportunities.

In addition to this, each year on Homecoming the Track and Field Team at Merrimack Hosts a 5k race, donations made at the race go to the team but additional donations can be made to the Kelly Ledoux-Walsh fund to honor one of our most incredible runners and friends we have ever known. To learn more about this fund which is allocated to a Wakefield graduate who participates in Track. To learn more about this opportunity click here.  And feel free to come out and run with us next year at homecoming to support the team and all the amazing warriors it has created. #KellYeah!

again this post is in no way affiliated with merrimack college or its affiliatesI am simply an alumni hoping to continue on with the great lessons I have learned from the school I attended.