Hello Illini fans,

It saddens me to write you for the last time. This year has been absolutely incredible in terms of building and developing our program. We had such strong individual performances, especially from Dana Gattone and Jan Prapassarangkul having a first and second place finishes respectively. Stephanie Miller's consistency as the lowest average scorer helped our team maintain performances across tournaments. Our underclassmen really stepped up to the plate and were ready to perform from the get go. It was really a team effort that led to our successes. Every person was able to contribute and was valued as an essential part of the team.

Reflecting back on my years here at Illinois, I realized that our program goes beyond the golf course. Our coaches aim at developing us as people beyond players. At such an incredible academic school, we are graduating players with double majors, aerospace engineering, accountancy and business administration degrees. My class is leaving the school confident that our time here has prepared us for whatever the future has to offer. We were developed as leaders and role models in the community through extra curricular activities and community service off the course. Our team is pushed to the boundaries and developed as better people than we thought possible. These four years allowed me to develop confidence in the person I am today and create my identity. Through all the trials and tribulations, I realized what a support system I had and grew mentally stronger every time. I feel prepared moving forward into my summer internship with KPMG and the Masters of Accounting Science program, that I have the tools to lead, learn and adapt to any situation.

I felt challenged by my team to become a better person and player daily. I am so grateful for my parents and grandparents for providing me with this opportunity to compete on the Big Ten playing field. I hope that in my years at Illinois, I was able to develop a legacy of excellence and continue a tradition of support and encouragement. As an individual sport, it is challenging to incorporate the team feel at all times. We tried to change that by having non-traveling members travel to watch and cheer on the team at the tournaments close to home, sending encouraging notes, and making gifts to the away team.

At Illinois, we pride ourselves on being a family athletic community. I can say that I consider each of my former and current teammates to be sisters of mine. I am so unbelievably proud to be an Illini. I will always and forever cherish the memories that I made in the last four years. I would gladly do it all over again. I bleed orange and blue. I cannot wait to see what great successes are in the future for this program and anticipate cheering them on every step of the way.

I-L-L!

Michelle Mayer