 I want to start by congratulating our 16 ambassadors on being named district ambassador for your college for 2023. So congratulations. We have about 300,000 plus students who take courses throughout our system at different capacities, but you are one of 16 representing each of those colleges. So that's a pretty exciting population of people to be a part of. Part of being ambassador for your college is showing pride for your college and your technical education and then elevating that to the state level. Being a mother and a grandmother and starting my educational journey in my late 30s, it was something that I could do to, you know, give my children something to be proud of. It's just a really humbling experience to be going through this and that they chose me. I hope to, with this position, inspire others to know that they can achieve their career goals and make it happen. Just meeting those individuals who are like, it's okay. You have value. It's a safe place. I feel like that's like the true definition of student leadership. You started becoming moment makers, which makes you a leader, and it gives you the opportunity to create moments for other people that are watching you in your moment. It means the world to me. I did not think I was a leader. I thought that I was a shy, quiet girl who had nothing to say. For me, it's owning the state ambassador title and embracing it with confidence. Before, I was like, I don't know how to feel about it. I feel like I'm not important enough to be here. Some of you may think you don't even deserve to be here. That's a lie. You're here because you deserve to be here. You created this moment along with some of your college partners and your peers. You understand how powerful that is? Take the moment that you have been given, and once you have your moment, don't let anyone take it from you. You know why? Because it's yours. This gave me a lot more confidence in who I am, my abilities, where I can take them, and people telling me like, that's what we want to see, and to me that feels good and to be recognized. Getting to meet all the other student ambassadors from across the state and hear their story, in addition to all the things taught by WTCS in general, made me feel like I have a lot more to offer than maybe I even thought I did in the first place. We're able to have the students right in front of us with ask them questions. What's important to you? What are you concerned about your education? What would you like to learn more about? How can we help meet your needs? And I think just having that direct conversation with students from a system perspective really allows us to think about some of the decisions that we're making and the conversations that we're having with leaders of colleges and folks that are working directly with students. Getting that hands-on experience through the technical college and being able to save money and everything in high school was something that I want to advocate for other students. I want to be the voice of other international students. I want to create some meetings and events together and then we can talk about our cultures, languages, food, backgrounds. I want to be the voice for our student body. If they have ideas that they want to be heard, I want to be the voice for those ideas. Being a state ambassador is representing not only you but the people around you, the state, the college you're going to, and even your background, you know your family, you're representing all of these people and in your mind just playing like you don't want to let them down. I know 15 other ambassadors and I believe we'll have connections for the rest of our lives and we're here to support each other and uplift each other. Welcome everybody, especially the ambassadors and your family and friends that are here tonight to acknowledge your incredible star power. So I don't know if you realize it but there are a lot of very important people that drove here to the Dells tonight just to hear from you. I firmly believe the tech college system is an amazing path for growth and development and it leads to great outcomes for individuals, businesses, communities. It's obvious to me that switching to a technical college was one of the best decisions I could have ever made for myself and I look forward to class every day and I challenge myself to learn as much as I can from who I can. I also wanted to be an example for my children that if their mom can go to college while balancing work, sport schedules and everything else then they'll know one day if they can do anything. I've spent the last three years dedicated to my studies to show that no matter what life throws your way you can handle it. There is a way to continue and a way to succeed. I get to go beyond the state board that was here and supporting us. I could go to the legislators and I could talk about technical colleges and I can go to the senate and speak on issues and laws that would help improve students' lives and 48 hours ago I was thinking more I could be on a student panel and talk to some teachers and that would be great and that would still make me feel like I'm making a difference but my role is so far beyond that now. I want to be able as an ambassador to just bring everybody together. One, two, three, and go college! Thank you!