For my favorite memory, I was thinking that this was a tie between the day I graduated from undergrad or the day I saw my nephew being born. Since watching my nephew's birth slightly traumatized me, I'll pick my college graduation on May 12, 2000! Yes, it's been that long!

My computer science degree took me 5 years to complete, but everyone I started off with was on the 5 year plan (unless you took summer school each year). My brother had died right before my final year began and I missed the first day of classes to attend his funeral. I think that set the tone for the rest of the year. That year was very difficult for me emotionally and I found out that I had to take an additional elective during the winter break in order to graduate. Despite those obstacles, I did very well that year and ended up on the Dean's list each semester. Graduation day was a blur, but I remember it was the first time that the family had been together since my brother's funeral. We had to announce ourselves on the microphone as we crossed the stage to pick up our diploma. More than half of the engineering college was foreign with difficult to pronounce names, so that made things easier.  I had a bad case of stage fright and my voice was barely audible, but the moment I received my diploma made it all worth while.

I think that year really taught me what I was made of and reinforced the belief that I can do anything I put my mind to.