 Now from Gateway Technical College, Angela Haney. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. As Ron stated, my name is Angela, but I would like all of you to get to know me as Angie. If I was given a survey about growing up in Chicago and the hardships I faced, I would have checked many of the boxes about the statistics that people hear. I was an African American girl who grew up in Inglewood, which was and is considered one of the most violent neighborhoods in Chicago. I was the oldest child of a broken family who was forced to be out on my own at the age of 14. I was raised by parents who suffered from alcohol and drug addictions. I was a victim of sexual assault, not once, not twice, but three times. I was pregnant my senior year of high school and became a teen mom by the age of 18. I was impacted by gun violence multiple times, first losing my dad at the age of six, and as time passed, I lost my dad and many other close family and friends. I felt low self-esteem, confusion, hurt, disappointment, and hopelessness. Essentially, I was lost for a very long time. Life changed in the fall of 2015 when I entered the doors of Gateway Technical College. At that moment, I decided it was possible for me to transform myself into the person I have become. I am a gateway student who utilizes all of the amazing services that help me and many other students succeed, such as disability support, tutoring, and support counseling just to name a few. Having disability support has allowed me to work through my depression and anxiety while staying in classes and working toward obtaining my degree. Tutoring has allowed me to conquer my biggest academic fear, which is math. I know some of you feel me. I also meet with the support counselors as needed and they feel and they have connected me with resources in my community. I am a student leader who is actively engaged in many clubs and support programs. This has given me numerous opportunities that have allowed me to grow personally and professionally. In April of 2018, I had the opportunity to board a plane for the second time in my entire life to attend a Tony Robbins Alisha Power Conference. This conference helped me understand that I am not defined by my past traumas and mistakes, so that now I am able to better handle the stress of school and everyday life. In May of 2018, I attended the National Conference of Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education, which is better known as NCOR. This powerful conference brings various races, cultures and ethnicities together with the common goal of learning from one another in order to improve higher education. We all experienced numerous of obstacles that could potentially pull us away from our goal of graduating. I am fortunate that my biggest obstacle, which is financial, did not derail me from my journey. I am blessed to be a recipient of the Wisconsin Grant, Gateway Foundation Scholarships, Gateway Emergency Fund, and the generosity of Baird this evening. Gateway's faculty and staff helped me recognize my truth and my strengths. I can now step out proudly and say, I am a survivor. I am a mom. I am a wife. I am a sister. I am a first-generational college student. I possess the strengths of strategy, empathy, developer, relator and responsibility. As I continue my educational journey, I am confident that I will be prepared as a result of the experiences at Gateway Technical College. I am confident that I will be able to dream big and reach my full potential. In May of 2020, I will grace the Gateway graduation stage with pride, knowledge, understanding and thankfulness. I will be a vessel of change and hope within my community and continue to further my education until I am known as Dr. Angela M. Haney, CEO of Empower Herpower LLC. I will help other students. I will help other students by sharing my story and I'll continue to share the mission of Gateway and Wisconsin Technical College System. In closing, I did not want to share my closing with my advisor because my closing is dedicated to the beautiful people sitting at table four and at table five. In the last two weeks, I've experienced losing my home, the loss of my cousin to gun violence whose home going was actually this morning, loss of clothing due to my basement flooding and flooding my storage because my storage is my closet. And due to the beautiful people sitting at this table, their encouragement, their motivation and their support, I was able to make it here this evening. I want all of you to do as I did and find you a circle of people who believe in you, who motivate you, who are positive, who support you. I want you all to remember to hold your head high in the storm. Don't be afraid to cry and scream because it will help you to reach your dream. I would like to dedicate my speech tonight to my cousin, Demetrius Williams, because I want you to know that no matter the storm, I will continue this marathon and I will get our family out of their community. Thank you and have a good night.