Diane Headshot_editDiane Gallagher
Staff Writer

I gave my two weeks’ notice at a dead end job with only one real plan in mind, “find something better.” I applied to Millersville University two days after I quit and started classes three weeks later. I was 25 years old, jobless, and scared I was moving backwards instead of forwards.
I spent my first couple days on campus lost like the rest of the incoming freshmen, wandering campus and being amazed at the lack of parking. The best part of being a nontraditional student is being able to assess what you will and will not use in your daily life. Classes that were mandatory but not life changing got exactly that kind of attention when it came to studies, while classes that would be the reason I can pay back my student loans got the appropriate time allotment and attention.
Four years later, I am trying to figure out how to say goodbye to friends who became family, and professors who, even though we didn’t always see eye to eye, are the reason I am the writer I am today. I want to thank Professors Philip Benoit, Alan Foster, and R. Eugene Ellis for always supporting my creativity and consistently pushing me to grow as a writer.
I also have to thank my amazing husband, Tom, and my wonderful mother, Diane Dornisch, for their countless acts of kindness and support throughout these four years. Whether it was reviewing papers for me, listening to me complain about a useless assignment (there were many), or sitting through my presentations until I felt they were “just right,” they never once complained (to me at least).
I’ve accomplished far more then I set out to in these four years, and now it is time to move on. Life is short, and it moves too fast. I’m very lucky to have been able to partake in all that I have, and I will forever look back on my experiences at Millersville with great fondness. Thanks for the memories!