I’m the oldest of five kids, and I love baking, reading, as well as swimming. My friends, family, and faith are all very important to me, and I’ll be talking about all of them here.
Let’s start off with family. I’ve already mentioned that I’m the oldest of five kids, but there’s much more to know when it comes to my family. My parents are Kirby and Kristin, and I’ve got four younger siblings, Luke, Sarah, Nathan, and Matthew. Luke’s 16 and goes to NC with me, Sarah’s 12 and is in 8th grade. Nathan is 10 and is a very rowdy 4th grader. Matt is the baby of the family at 7 years old. He’s in 2nd grade.
I think that I’m probably closest to Sarah, as she’s my only sister. We share a room and often stay up late talking to each other. I know all of the middle school drama, and I’m starting to give her pointers on surviving high school.
Since I’ve mentioned school a few times already, let’s explore that next. I’m a senior at Nemaha Central High School. I enjoy extracurricular activities such as school plays, scholar’s bowl, and forensics.
Our forensics season is going well. We’ve competed in several meets so far and took sweeps at most of them. I currently compete in the Duet Acting event with my friend Dylann. We’ve already qualified for state, which will be in May. I've also qualified in Poetry and won League in both events. I'm currently trying to get qualified in POI, or Program of Oral Interpretation.
The spring musical is beginning to get underway as well. We’re doing a show from the ’60s called Anything Goes. While I’m not the lead this spring, I was in the fall, playing Katarina in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. We will perform this musical right after spring break.
Theater has always been very important to me. I remember the first time I saw a live show. I was 10 years old and my grandpa took me to see The Little Mermaid. I just fell in love. I already loved the Disney movie by the same name but I couldn’t believe the amount of talent and work it took to put on such an amazing show. As soon as I had a chance, I started trying out for shows. I’ve helped in the crew of one show and acted in seven shows. I love the rush of adrenaline when I first step on the stage and the fact that people around town know me for being in productions.
I have several lovely friends that I met through theater, forensics, or both. Some have moved on to college, but we keep in touch and get together whenever they’re back in town. It’s amazing to watch them become independent adults and know that in a few years, that’ll be me as well.
My faith is very important to me as well. I was born and raised as Catholic, but that didn’t really mean much to me until this last summer when I went to Catholic Heart Work Camp. I spent a week doing work for a church up in Nebraska and I learned a lot. I slept on the floor of a classroom with 20 other people and went to Mass every day in a gym. It sounds awful, but it was one of the best experiences of my life. I found myself, a love of community service and God, all in one week, and I can’t wait to go again this summer.
My future plans are pretty vague, as of now. I think I want to be a high school English teacher, and I’m considering going to Emporia, but I haven’t committed yet. I want to do this because all of the English teachers I’ve ever had have made an impact on me, and I want to be able to create the same bond with future generations.
I think that my favorite quote is “There is freedom waiting for you, On the breezes of the sky, And you ask “What if I fall?” O but my darling, what if you fly?”, which is a poem by Erin Hanson.