Hello everyone my name is Ben Santos. I am a senior this year and a biology major. I also am a part of the football team here at Bethel College as well as the concert choir and track team. We are all excited to see what this next school year will bring and the long lasting friendships we will develop. There are a lot of new faces on campus this year students and staff alike. Fall sports are already underway and I would like to invite all of you to come out and support the football team this year, and I can assure you it will be a fun and exciting season this year. I got a call the other day from my mom in Kosovo. She is currently overseas serving her country in the Missouri Army National Guard in Kosovo joining the many NATO peacekeeping forces over there right now. I am glad to say that there is no violence in that region right now and she tells me that they are doing everything they can to help out the good people of Kosovo. Everything from cleaning out the schools, which are very substandard compared to the schools we have over here. Yes people that is right the military does much more than just fight wars and kill people, there’s a lot of other things the military is involved in that has nothing to do with violence in any way, shape, or form. So as we celebrate our freedom here in quiet and safe Kansas, let us not forget that there are many others overseas serving their country in many ways to preserve our idea of freedom and democracy and be thankful that we are citizens of a nation that has so much.