It's more than a program ... it's a family

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family:Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one."
~ Jane Howard

Wow! What a blur these past few weeks have been. We have gotten more involved in our new rung of classes, we have been planning trips to Savannah, GA and New Orleans, LA, and we have had guest speakers ranging from John Walsh of ESPN to members of the UCF Athletic Department. It really has been a whirlwind as the class of 2011 is just now settling into the new semester and our onslaught of new classes and responsibilities.

This semester I took over as the Recruitment Chair for our class and in preparing to go to the Georgia Southern Conference in Savannah this week, myself and some of my classmates have been working on some recruitment materials. Yesterday, I was working on a display with my friend Cristi and in doing so, we were using the old board as a reference. We were looking at the old board and getting ideas when we saw a maxim across the middle of the board:

DeVos: "It's more than a program... it's a family."

The two of us got a laugh about how cliche this slogan was but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that while cliche, there really is no better way to put it. I have a unique experience in that for a year and a half I get to spend my time with 28 other people from all across the world who share my passion: to make a difference in the world through the use of sport. While we share that similarity we could not be more diverse and more different. We come from all backgrounds and all locations but over the past 6 months, friendships have been formed and lasting bonds have been made. I look at my 28 classmates and realize they aren't just friends they are family.

As a class we have always been there and supported each other and like any group of people we have had our disagreements but at the end of the day - we are family. I know that if need be, any of my 28 classmates would support me in my greatest triumphs and have my back in my greatest hour of need. I once got a card that read, "friends are the family that you choose" and while DeVos may have chosen the 28 people who I would call family, I would not have chosen a different group of 28 if I had the power to go back and make that choice myself. My 28 classmates are an amazing group of people and I am lucky to be counted among that group. We are a close-knit group who support one another through thick and thin. I am excited to be a member of this class and about the things that we are all going to accomplish in the coming months and once we have received our degrees.

This is why I chose DeVos; this is why I'm proud to be DeVos; and this is why (if you're at the Georgia Southern Conference this weekend) I hope that you will come visit me at the DeVos table and listen to our director Dr. Bill Sutton speak and see if the best decision that I ever made is also the best decision for you. I'm proud to be in the DeVos program but more than that I am proud to be a member of the family that is the DeVos Class of 2011.

Have a great week,

Devan