My School and Community :)

My State :)

Where I Am and The Journey That Went Along With It

       40. 87° N, 98.00° W; these are the coordinates from which anybody in the world who is looking at an atlas would identify as Aurora, NE. I’m going to assume that almost 100% of people living on planet Earth have never heard of the small, rural town consisting of about 4,500 happy people. That number doesn’t even compare to the amount of people living in the bigger Auroras in other states like Colorado or Illinois. To an outsider it is nothing more than a place to stop for a restroom break and a gas fill-up, but to someone who lives here, it’s an experience few words can describe. I truly believe that if I would have ended up anywhere else thus far, I would not be near the person that I have grown to be. 

            I haven’t always lived in Aurora. I was born in Austin, Texas and I love to brag about it despite only residing there for the first seven months of my life. After being homesick and missing their families, my parents decided to raise me and my future siblings in good ole Nebraska. Some might question why anyone would want to live in such a wide open and boring state when all the opportunities exist in bigger cities that are in flashier states. My parents knew all along what they wanted; that was to bring their kids up the way they were brought up, here in Nebraska.

            We moved to Kearney; a conservative, classy, college town where we would receive advantages in both the small town feel and the big town events. Within the next seven years three younger siblings were born. We would spend winters building snowmen and sledding with my and summers would include playing in the sandbox and backyard camping. God bless my parents for putting up with four small children at one time! I can remember every day on our way to school my dad, sister, and I would pass the University while dad would tell us stories of his college experiences and the ones that we should expect as well. My sister and I would always laugh and say that college is so far away for us. Little did we know that it was just around the corner!

            After ten fantastic childhood years my dad took a job in Grand Island. Sadly, we had to abandon our familiar lives and pick up to pursue a life 45 minutes away (three lifetimes in a child’s mind). This is the timeframe in my life that I generally like to skip over completely while I recap my past years. Even though we had bought a brand new house in a quiet neighborhood, it’s safe to say that none of us felt at home. I don’t know if it was because of the city being about twice the size or missing our good friends we left behind, but none of us were happy. I felt out of place and awkward at my new school. It took quite a while before I finally started to settle in and make some friends. I was finally getting adjusted.

            What happens next? Well, of course my parents would decide to relocate again! They hated the school we were attending and could see that we weren't coming anywhere near our academic and social potentials. Much to my disbelief, my parents decided that Aurora, about 20 miles down highway 34, would be the best place to reach those potentials. You can only imagine how livid I was with this second move. I had felt like I was finally getting used to my life and it was like BAM, we move again.

            I wish I would’ve gone in with more of an open mind. I was just about to start middle school, and may I say that people can be so mean during those years, so it only made the transition harder . . . or at least in my mind. There are only three people I specifically remember that first day, Emily Braun; with her blue plaid bermuda shorts, Natasha Hongsermeier; who let me sit by her during the first day of school kick-off, and Milayna Mckinney; my neighbor. I found myself meeting numerous students and teachers who truly wanted to help me feel comfortable. Yes, of course there were those immature boys who would pick on anyone for anything, but the girls were mostly pretty nice. I could tell almost instantly that I would enjoy spending the rest of my pre-college time in this school.

            By the time my freshman year had started, I had really come out of my shell. I realized that people are either going to love or hate me for who I am and there is not much I can control about it. I found myself making plenty of friends through sports and other activities and enjoying the new freedoms that high school displayed. I know that if I would have gone anywhere else, I wouldn’t be involved anywhere near the level that I am now. Through school sponsored activities I learned the importance of staying involved, keeping out of trouble, and remaining on good terms with everyone I met. The Aurora schools, without a doubt, stress those three main topics, hoping to receive success from each and every student. To them, we aren't a student body, we are all individual people who learn and achieve on different levels.

            Knowing now that I only have about eight months left in this school system, I contain a plethora of mixed emotions. I’m excited to start something new but it saddens me to think of what I’m leaving behind. If I could only explain to all of my peers what they have been blessed with as far as the people and learning environment we are surrounded by, I would in a heartbeat. I wish to return here once I’m getting ready to start my family in order to ensure an achieving atmosphere within my children’s’ lives. I thank God that he put me here, the happy little town of Aurora.

Family Tradition

Christmas with my mom's family :)

Butterfly Kisses by Brad Carlisle

Life Soundtrack

Deep Map

Who I Am!

My goodness… could there be any deeper of a question than who am I? I don’t know how I can describe all the little things about me in 750 words. There are definitely plenty of things that I’m not. I know I’m not a criminal, an atheist, or a liar. Who I am and what I stand for are some deep things that I have to ponder. It ‘s obvious that I am my father’s daughter, my classmate’s friend, and my teachers’ student but I am so much more than that as well. The beginning of discovering who I am was kind of like a brand-new, unopened book. I may appear a certain way on the outside and ultimately that’s the thing that will first attract people to me but there is a whole world of stories, adventures, dreams, and jokes inside.

I probably come off as an outgoing, outspoken, and fun-loving person to most people but that isn't around everyone and definitely not right away. I can be very shy and at a loss for words when I am around people I don’t really know. I love having people’s attention but not too many people.. I’d freak out. I love meeting new people and making new friends but I absolutely dread that awkward first few times I am around somebody that I don’t know. When I am trying to make a good impression I generally keep quiet and speak respectfully but when I start to really open up and show my true colors I'm a plethora of sarcasm and jokes. I love more than anything in the world to make people feel great and hearing someone laugh at the things I say couldn’t be a better feeling for me. I enjoy that moment when I realize that a friend is really opening up to me, it is sensational.

I am a bad mix of procrastination and time anxiety, but when I set my sights on something that I’m determined to finish well, it will. I get frustrated when I don’t know how to do something but it can be hard to get me to stop once I do know how. When I truly care about an outcome I put my whole heart into it and I cant help but let it completely consume everything that I do. When the reward comes for the hard work, like a good grade or a varsity letter, I get motivated to only do more, and better!

I am my Savior’s child. I love my Lord and my faith more than anything and everything.  I do it all for His glory. He put me on this Earth to spread the Word and everything I do represents Him. That is why it is so important to me to be kind to everyone. Whether we like to admit it or not, we all give and receive judgment upon each other so if I represent my faith in a good way by doing what I know is right then that reflects well on Him and possibly inspires non-believers to believe. I give Him praise and He gives me undeserved blessings. I may be discouraged at times but after I say a quick prayer I always feel better. I cant even describe in words who or what my Savior is to me but I know that I am for Him and by Him.

The recent tragic death of my friend Jacob has really inspired me to be a better me. He had the determination to do well in absolutely anything… and I mean ANYTHING! If he didn’t win it, he didn’t do it. Though I’m not near as hardcore as he is, I have been dedicated to making myself better. It’s almost been a year since he passed away but his legacy still lives on. He showed me how to look for the best in everyone and taught me a lesson on invincibility.. or the lack there of. I want to be remembered like he was… not by his disease, but by the tremendous fight that he put up for it.

I guess that in a nutshell I am nothing spectacular, but everything I do I put my heart into it. I'm not going to lie.. this was incredibly hard to write. I had never really had to explain to a stranger exactly who I am but I hope that by reading this one can get the general idea. Thanks for reading this incredibly drawn out and wordy post on who I am!