Work

Freshman, sophmore, and senior year I was not employed anywhere, however my junior year I did work. I was eager

for my first job and luckily found a great job at Rally House. I started out making more than minimum wage, which I was ecstatic about! Also, my original manager was super sweet and gave me a leadership position even though I was the youngest. She had a rule about not

Tattoos

Ever since I was young I knew that I wanted tattoos. Freshman year I told myself that when I turned 18 I would get a tattoo, however, through the years I figured I would chicken out. Luckily, I didn't and I know have 2. I absolutely hate needles but I love the concept of something permanently being on me. It's permanent art, and I love it. Looking back, I think my younger self would be shocked that I actually went through with it but proud that I kept my word to myself. My two small tattoos hold a lot of meaning to me, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to get them finally.

Friends

My friends have always been a big part of my life. Especially this year. This year and the last I have met so many great friends. I am forever thankful for both my old  and new friends. Life with my friends is an adventure, and I never know what to expect.  

Future career

My whole life, up until this year, I thought that I wanted to work in the criminal justice or criminology field later on in life. I am still passionate about the field, however, due to ISM I have learned that I truly want to work in the music industry. I am a pretty creative person so marketing music would be a good fit for me as I would get to combine being creative with music.

Fun

Compared to freshman year, my idea of fun has changed a bit. I went to my first ever music festival freshman year, where I fell in love with live music and first saw that I wanted to work with it. Sophomore and junior year I started going to a few more concerts but senior year I started attending them regularly and it is my favorite past time now.

Family

My family has always been important to me, but now as I am about to leave for college they are even more important to me. I have started to realize that they will not always be around and that I need to spend as much time with them as possible. When I think about my family, my grandpa sticke out to me. I grew up without a dad and so he kind of filled that role for me. He has been the most inspirational person in my life. He built his own business from the ground and has now had it 30+ years. He has showed me that with hard work and determination that you can accomplish anything, and I am truly glad I have him in my life. He has sacrificed and given me so much and I will never be able to repay him.

Food

My freshman year I was vegetarian with the intent to be vegan, however, due to becoming anemic and losing protein I was unable to continue. Recently, I have been trying to become vegearian and then vegan again. It amazes me how much my passion for animal rights has increased over the past years while I have been in high school. At first, I wanted to be vegetarian due to health but since I am a super picky eater I ended up just eating a bunch of junk food so it didn't even help me. Now, I have done a ton of research, watched documentaries, etc and have learned about the conditions animals have to deal with in the food industry and it makes me really sad. My mission is that once I am healthy enough to continue with a vegetarian/vegan diet that I do so, but until then I just substitute what I can.  I have found a ton of vegetarian/vegan recipes I have tried or will tried, stopped wearing leather shoes (I love my vegan doc martens more than anything!!), and have encouraged my family to join me on this journey. We shall see where this goes! The way animals are treated is something very important to me and I wish I was able to be involved more than I am. While I am a picky eater, I have been able to find good recipes and food that I will actually it! Such as using vegan marshmallows and butter for rice krispy treats, vegan cupcakes, teriyaki tofu and rice, rice milk smoothies, vanilla soy lattes, etc!

Travel

Throughout high school I did not get a chance to really travel until senior year. I had the chance to go to Austin twice as well as traveled 11 hours to Gulf Shores, Alabama. 2/3 of these trips were because of a music festival, which I am glad I had the opportunity to experience. Being away from home in a setting filled with like-minded people who enjoy music is amazing and I wish I had gotten the chance to travel before senior year for them.

Dance

*I had danced off and on in my life and so freshman year I joined the JV Marquettes (drill team) and it was the best and worst part of 9th grade. While I enjoyed dance, it was hard to keep up with school, dance, and lacrosse at the same time. It was a commitment I hadn't yet experienced, but it allowed me to learn. One of my favorite memories was our competition. It was amazing being able to learn routines and perform them in front of judges, and we ended up winning everything so that made it even better. After freshman year I didn't try out for varsity, which I do regret, but I continued to take lessons until I decided to stop all together and focus on school.

ISM

*The ISM program has been a huge part of my senior year. Throughout high school there was never really a class I was able to explore a possible career field so getting to be a part of this class was great. I had the chance to explore the music industry in order to see if it was actually a possible field I would want to work in later on, and it definitely helped me realize that this is the field I want to be in. In ISM we learned a lot about cold calling, interviews, professional dress, networking, etc and it has been very beneficial. One thing I learned in ISM that will stick with me for a while is how to manage my time and get things turned in. This class was pretty much self-paced but we were expected to create a final product so we had to manage our time well for that.