Dear CCU,

First and foremost I would like to apologize, Coastal. I am sorry that such an article was published about you. You don't deserve that because you are not a public nuisance and you should not be permanently close. 

That is preposterous. 

So, as someone of this prestigious University's Alumni, I am sorry. Just know that you have a whole student body backing you up.

And Chauncey... you have Chauncey backing you up.

If you are not aware of why I am writing a personal and open letter to Coastal Carolina University, let me clue you in really quick... Someone by the name of Mike Knight recently wrote a little something about the University, calling it a "public nuisance" and saying that the students are "hellions." He actually went as far as saying it is "an unnecessary burden to the fine, law-abiding, taxpaying citizens that Conway and South Carolina residents are paying for." Right, because our tuition dollars have nothing to do with it. 
He wants to start a petition, but I want to express my gratitude. 

That is actually why I am addressing Coastal Carolina as if the University is a person, in this article. This place will always be a home to me. 
Other than just loans... I owe CCU so much.  

I would vouch to say that many of the other students feel the same way. The whole saying that we trademarked, "it's not college, it's Coastal," goes much further than the parties that may have gotten out of control from time to time.

Oh, BREAKING NEWS: College students were busted drinking, some were even underage. Parties were even shut down by the police as well. How shocked are you, truly?

Coastal, I had some really great times with you. I had some down times with you also, but every Junior in college feels like their life is ending at one point or another. Let's not talk about finals week. I actually thought I hated you then. I am so sorry for the awful thoughts I had about you. Stressful times make us all a little irrational, right?
Finals week also brought students together though. No matter what your individual interest was, it did not matter. You could find someone from Theatre, the basketball team, dance team, those of sororities or fraternities, maybe some who weren't really involved in much at all but loved to socialize, you could catch them at CINO Day, Brain Drain or Finals Frenzy. (Shoutout to CCU Foodman who made things like this extra spectacular). 
And when all of the study rooms were filled up in Club K (Kimbel Library) and you had no choice but to "study" up on the second floor... hey, there were some good memories made during finals week despite the lack of rest. 

Coastal, you witnessed us at our very worst times and our best times, like when our baseball team won the NCAA College World Series Championship. After all, college is supposed to be one of the easiest times in your life no matter how tragic that breakup was or how badly you failed your midterm. Attending CCU made it that much easier. 

Many of us came to you from far away. I traveled about 12 hours to get to you, from a small town in Ohio. That drive sucked, I want you to know, but the good FAR outweighs the bad. With many of us far away from our family and friends, we had no choice but to truly discover ourselves. I was opened up to so many different things while I was a student. Things I would have never experienced if I would have never made that move. You helped me become who I am today. And I am pretty proud of that person. I would have never worked at where I did for the three years I was in South Carolina, therefore I would have never made the lifelong friendships that I did, or even met the people that I had the privilege of meeting. 
The professors that I was fortunate enough to learn from, they alone are reason enough to be so thankful. For the record, I also had some pretty brutal thoughts about those guys as well, but they hold a special place in my heart. There was a never a time where I felt that I could not get assistance if I thought I needed it... from any of the professional staff. 

The parking sure was a headache almost every single day, but the Teal Turf is pretty cool... Again, that Natty Champ was something that I will never forget and wiping out on the bridge over Turtle Pond on my very first day was pretty hilarious. The way we came together when the basketball team won the Big South Conference two years in a row and made the NCAA March Madness tournament was neat to witness. We got our butts kicked, but we were all so proud... and probably still threw a party for the sake of 'hey, we made it to the Big Dance!'

One of my MOST favorite things about my Alma Mater.

So yes, our University knew how to relax and have a little fun, but I have also never been pushed so hard as an academic student in my entire life. I would not have wanted it any other way. What does not kill you makes you stronger and at some points, I thought college was going to kill me. Yet here I am, stronger than ever and thankful for Coastal Carolina. 

Every University goes through their rough spots with scandals that they may not be able to recover from very easily, students who make the news in a not-so-positive way, but you should not be singled out for that. You should not be permanently closed for that. The public eye may be disappointed in the guilty individuals of such a thing, and maybe I did not condone everything that I saw in the news, but that does not reflect you as a whole, as a University. 

I have to thank you, Coastal. I have to thank you for each and every experience, good and bad, that you gave me. You helped me define myself and you helped me continue pursuing my dream that seemed so far-fetched four years ago. I may be 10 hours away from you again, but you will always be home to me. 
You are not a nuisance, you are a privilege and a blessing. There are so many who feel the same way. 

I have to end this now because I could really go on forever. 
Coastal, don't ever change. 'Chants Up' forever!

The beach was seriously just a perk.