What is this connection, anyways?

I'm overwhelmed by the outpour of love and support that I've experienced lately.

(you all know I'm a spotlight whore, I won't lie)
but I guess I just figured that no one noticed me. I did the best I could and learned as much as I could cram into my brain.
Now, the last three days, really, everyone has been so positively glowing.
Being a favorite is something unexpected for me.

Now, before you judge this as emo, try to think of it as just an empirical data set.
I've disappointed nearly everyone I know for a long time.
I'm not kidding, when my dad got my graduation announcement, he really asked me why I was only graduating magna cum laude instead of suma.
So they're disappointed and proud, but I've got this filter, where I've learned that everything I'm doing is (and this is very important)
for myself

Since it's not going to be good enough for anyone else, the only person I have to satisfy is myself. Over the last four years, I've set strenuous goals for myself. and I've met every one of them.
No matter what, I always believe in me.
I've met my goals, and I'm super proud of myself. I've done so well, and I'm taking away so many honors, and I guess I was still seeing it through this view of "the only positive opinion will be my own" perspective. To have other people tell me that I'm a favorite, that I've changed the way they look at things, to know that I made a difference in the lives that I've been in contact with is intensely rewarding, even as it is confusing.

I usually feel so alone. And that's good too- a leader isn't part of the pack, and they can't be. But this bewildering week, I feel connected and cherished.

I think the true value of education comes not in the books we read or the classes that we attend, but in the lives that we've changed and the hearts we've touched, the people who have changed our lives and our hearts, and the joy that we've found along the way.

Thank you. Thank you for letting me change your life, and thank you for changing mine. Tomorrow is the last day of a wonderful epoch.
I'll miss you all.