My Family

by Monica Miller
Graduate in Landscape Architecture

In preparation for today, I was trying to determine what makes landscape architecture unique not only to Kansas State but also to the College of Architecture, Planning and Design. What makes us different in the College of Architecture, Planning and Design is not only our small class size of twelve but also that today is the only day when we will be wearing as much black as the architects. But what makes us different from other majors at K-State is this thing called studio.

I thought back to life before Kansas State. What did I think it was going to be like? I think that I was like most of our families, in that, I thought a studio was somewhere in Hollywood where they make films. Now…. well it’s a common word in my vocabulary as it no longer seems foreign to me but now it seems more like home. What makes it feel like home? Could it be the fact that we have everything we could possible need there like refrigerators and microwaves or is it the fact that we are there more than anywhere else.

I think that those things are part of it, but more importantly what makes studio sound like home is the fact that that is where my family is. I think that is what makes our college and indeed my graduating class different than any major on campus is that we are family, whether we like it or not.

Self-educated author Kendall Hailey stated it best when she said that, “The great gift of family life is to be intimately acquainted with people you might never have introduced yourself to, had life not done it for you.” That statement could not be closer to the truth. Just like families, we are eclectic and different. Every family has all different types of people in it. The same is true for our class. We are very different as we all have very different points of origin, but we are bound together by our discipline and passion for what we do.

The great thing about families is that you are bound to them forever. While we are all dispersing after today, we will still remain family. Because we are a family we do everything together and know everything about one another. We know things like who started or ended a relationship even before Facebook knows. We do things together, like float the river and even have family style Christmas dinners. Christmas dinners are a tradition that was started three years ago, and I am predicting will continue on in the form of reunions. I thought that today I could relate with you what such a reunion might look like in terms of my classmates…. I mean family.

-We’ll start with Ben…Ben is the “dad” as he will employ his paternal qualities in planning every event. Whatever the function, Ben uses his greek skills and will be sure that it is well organized and that everyone is having a good time.

-Jill earns the title of “loud aunt.” You know the one I am talking about… the kind that if you are not paying attention to her for half a second you have missed half of the story.

-John is the nephew for which you have to remove anything that can be broken or swallowed. This was evidenced by our field trips to Marlatt Park and the amount of grass and dirt he tasted.

-Lindsay is the hippie cousin who might road trip to the reunion from California in a volkswagon van.

-Celine is the aunt that is always in the know-the one that you go to if you need to find out the latest news about anything. And the one that always knows where and when an event is taking place.

-Mark is the overzealous uncle that will insist that you should install a wind tower in your backyard to make your house more sustainable on your way to saving the world.

-Gabe is the brother who is always one step ahead of everyone. Whether it is school or work, Gabe gets it done. The fact that Gabe has had a job for six months reaffirms this label.

-Steph is the world-traveling cousin. She is the one that you might have thought she was coming from California until she gets there and tells you she just spent a month in Guatemala.

-Carrie is the gullible little sister. If we were to tell Carrie that she was at the wrong graduation right now, she would probably leave. It is because of this gullibility that she is the subject of constant teasing.

-Seth is the brother that feels it is his duty to bestow this ridicule on Carrie and others. This teasing often leads to fights between Seth and Carrie. I should know as I have sat between them for the last two years.

-Terry is the uncle who never ceases to surprise you. Whether its his late night eruptions in which we all fear for his computer’s life or the fact that he has often been caught doing laundry in studio or even the fact that he put his portfolio together while wearing latex gloves, you just never know what he will do next.

-And that leaves me. After asking a few classmates, it was decided that I am the grandma. I guess it is because I take after my grandma and take it upon myself to makes sure everyone gathers together for good food.

It is these people that I have the privilege to call my family. This family has helped shape me not only through learning from each other in our coursework but more importantly the education that occurs outside of classes. It is our close-knit bond that kept us from letting our schooling get in the way of our education. Successful author and self-made millionaire, Jim Rohn, said that “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” I first heard that when I was a third year so the only 11 people I spent time with were my classmates, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about being the average of them. But now I can see that I can have all their tendencies-I can be a planner, I can be loud, and overzealous, I can be gullible and I can tease. But I think we exemplify the best in each other. I can see how much each of us has grown in the last five years and know that this growth comes from being involved with such a diverse and dynamic group.

As we enter the real world, we will turn to our families for support. In our case we have two families-our original nuclear family and our landscape architecture family. One we will turn to in hard times for moral support and the other we will turn to for AutoCAD and Photoshop support. Both will change and move and become either closer to us or more distant to us.

As we enter the real world, these offspring of Kansas State University are all capable individuals who I am proud to call my family will be great successes in life!

Thank you and I wish the best of luck to each and every one of you.