WELCOME

The day I met Chase for the first time sticks out in my memory so vividly. I had just transferred to Bemidji State as a sophomore and knew practically nobody on campus. Chase happened to be a new transfer student that semester too, and he also happened to be in my ecology class. I met Chase in the lab early fall semester after being assigned to the same group project. We sat in our group trying to decide what our semester project should be and within 5 minutes Chase had planned our entire project, assigned everyone tasks, exchanged contact information, and left the room 45 minutes before the lab was supposed to end. I couldn't decide if I liked him or hated him at that point in time, but either way he stuck out to me and I don't think I've been able to get him out of my head since. Over the course of that fall semester, we forcefully spent time watering plants and collecting data for our project. He became one of the few familiar faces I had on campus and after some time, he became one of my best friends. We spent a lot of time studying, finishing our project, and doing assignments together. Most of that time together ended up getting interrupted by conversations that never seemed to end, whether it was about our families, our upbringings, how we ended up in Bemidji, where we wanted to go from there, our faith, or science, Chase never seemed to stop picking my brain, and I slowly fell in love with that. From the day I met Chase, there was something so apparent in the back of my head telling me to pay attention and hold on, and that is exactly what I did. After having Chase as my best friend for the first year I knew him, I knew I always loved him, I was just waiting for him to figure that out too. & I am so glad he (finally) did. He's the best person I know; he challenges me to be the best version of myself and believes in all my crazy dreams. I am so glad that God pointed me to him on that day, and that He chose the timing for us that He did. All my love, Taylor