While caught in the ease of a final semester’s course load and the protracted perfection of this spring’s weather, I have often stopped to reflect.

Sunday was one of those afternoons. While I sat in the cool breeze and watched a painted sky melt mockingbird songs into the cricket chorus of the night, my thoughts wandered freely through memory.

I have many defining experiences here: playing in the Million Dollar Band, giving Capstone tours, taking Dr. Hoover’s class on public finance or Dr. McKnight’s Blount class on race, serving in the Student Government Association, receiving the kindness of those who helped after my home was hit by the tornado.

There was once a time when my memories of Alabama centered on the almost religious journeys to Legion Field and Bryant-Denny Stadium. Each season, through humid heat and frigid sleet, I hoped, “Will this be the year Alabama wins a national championship?”

However, my undergraduate stint has matured my relationship with the University. Experiences here have challenged my views and unlocked perspectives, set bars and asserted the dare to overcome, left me in disbelief and opened a new depth of respect and understanding for those around me.

Above all, my collegiate molding process has been impacted by my experiences in the Blackburn Institute, a leadership development organization that focuses on issues facing Alabama.

In Blackburn, I have had the opportunity to travel across Alabama and compare everyday issues with what I have learned in the classroom. As the state expects over $300 million in additional cuts to the general budget next year, I am saddened by the knowledge that our decisions are pigeonholed by the most poorly written constitution.

In Norman Mclean’s novella “A River Runs Through It,” he describes his coming of age through the lens of fly-fishing in Montana. Ultimately, his life story merges in the headwaters with all others and is propelled in to the future by the collective waters of the American Experience.

As an Alabamian, the proper eyewear is football. For me, the University of Alabama has connected my personal narrative from the history of our state’s past (both good and bad) to the hope of its full potential. For us all, there is a process, and one day, the work exerted on life’s gridiron will result in a championship for the citizens of our state.

My part in this process began here at the University of Alabama. Mother, I am calling you to listen to my vow of love for as I say farewell to my time on campus, I am proud to call you my alma mater.

David Simpson is the outgoing SGA Attorney General and student chair of the Blackburn Institute.