Last post before college... Whoah!

Hello everyone! Sorry for not posting all summer, but I really haven't done many exciting things. It has been a great summer, though. Okay, okay, it doesn't compare to last summer, but it's still been pretty wonderful.

First, I went to freshman orientation at Belmont. It was incredible! I got to learn the campus a lot better, and I scheduled all my classes for the fall. I met a lot of people, but orientation was hectic and we were all going to different places, so it was hard to actually make friends. Anyway, one of the best parts about orientation was getting to tour my dorm building, Wright Hall. The rooms are huge! Here's me being super excited about my gigantic closet!

It's huge! I'm so glad I don't have to worry about leaving clothes at home. Paradise!

A few weeks after orientation, I went to camp at Belmont. It was a week-long camp for high school musicians. Sure, it was a camp for high schoolers, but I was excited to spend a week at Belmont and to meet the French horn professor (he's wonderful!). Before camp, I had no idea that I would make great friends there. I met two girls who will also be freshmen in the fall, and we had a fantastic time that week. We ate every meal together, walked around together, and even watched the entire first season of Teen Wolf. Yeah, we're cool :) I can't wait to see Abby and Lisa again when we move in! 

We wore matching outfits for the camp dance/karaoke party

After our concert... It's not "goodbye", it's "see you in two months"!!!

We also got to tour Belmont's brand new concert hall! We'll get to play here in the fall... It's so beautiful!!

Ahhh!

Okay. Since camp, I haven't done anything really noteworthy. Meh! But I'll post some photos just for fun :)

Well. Here's a cute little outfit I figured out. I wore it to a production of Oliver here in Tullahoma. It was a great night!

It's so close! I move in Saturday and classes start Wednesday!

Well, here's my progress in packing for school. It's taking over my house... :|

And here's my awesome new Lenny & Eva bracelet from Merle Norman! I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

Okie dokie, there's my totally uneventful summer in picture form :P Maybe I'll be able to post again with photos of my dorm, but I'm not entirely sure how busy I'll be once I get to school.

I'm so blessed to have parents who are willing to send me to my dream school! I can't wait to get to Belmont; this school is truly a blessing. I am absolutely certain that I belong at Belmont and in Nashville. I can't wait to see what God has in store for me next. It will be difficult to leave Tullahoma, my dog, my cat, my bed, and of course my parents, but I know they'll all be here for me when I get the chance to come visit. It's going to be a big change, but there are 1,800 other freshmen going through the same thing, and I'm ready to meet the challenge with them! I'm thankful for my college friends who have given me advice along the way.. So if you're reading this, know I couldn't have stayed sane without you!  

Thank you for supporting me through this crazy journey. Thanks for reading my blog! 

Sorry it's a little late... But.. I GRADUATED!

So this is 3 weeks late, but yup, I graduated. Graduation week was pretty busy. I had lots of little events during the week...

First was baccalaureate. It was a Christian service led by students. We all wore our caps and gowns for the first time, too! 

My dad and me! <3

That afternoon, I had a party with my family. It was a blast!

My grandma and me.. Check out that Belmont shirt! 

The luncheon was right after graduation practice. It was nice! We had all submitted pictures of ourselves as babies for a little slideshow. Yeah that was cool.

Matthew, Faith, me, and Jake at the luncheon! Don't we look cute?

The night after the luncheon, we had the band banquet! The band banquet is always fun, but it was even better as a senior. The directors gave out awards, we watched a slideshow of pictures from marching band, the seniors gave advice to underclassmen, and of course we read "senior sticks." Senior sticks are a weird tradition in the band.. I don't really know how to explain them, but they're unique and entertaining.. I was also awarded the Tullahoma Band scholarship! I was soooo happy.

FC's!!! These two made my season lots of fun! I'm so thankful for them!

And of course... graduation :D Yaaaaay.

After graduation, I went to project graduation.. I didn't want to carry my phone around because I was afraid I would lose it. So I didn't get any pictures! But I did win $200, a Nike duffel bag, and a Hibbett's gift card! Plus I had lots of fun playing games and hanging out with the class of 2012! 

SO. Graduation week was a huge success. I was sad for a few minutes, but I'm ready to move on! I actually just had orientation at Belmont this week. I can't waaaaaiiiit to go. See ya later, friends! Thanks for reading! 

Graduation Festivities

WOW, I haven't posted in almost 2 whole months! I'm really sorry, readers. I've been super busy lately.. So that just means I have a lot to write about this time! So here we go.

When I left you, I had just confirmed my enrollment to Belmont University in Nashville. I'm still planning on going to Belmont, and I am so excited. 

Here's a little sneak peek at what my graduation gown looks like with my stoles and cords. You will have to wait until the next post to see the whole thing!

A few weeks after that, I went to Chattanooga to be in the All-State Orchestra. I earned a spot in All-State from my Mid-State audition back in November. I was third overall in middle Tennessee, and 6 of us got to go to All-State. In the orchestra, there were only 6 French horns - 2 from east TN, 2 from middle, and 2 from west. Our conductor was Steven Amundson, who conducts at St. Olaf College in Minnesota. Yeahh, he had a funny accent. :) He was incredible, and he even composed a song for us to play. For anyone that cares, we played Candide Overture, Nimrod, Serendipities (the piece which our conductor wrote - our performance was the WORLD premiere!), and the fourth movement of Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony. All-State was an amaaaaazing experience. I got to see my Governor's School friends - I hadn't seen some of them since July 1, 2011. So... Playing with the All-State musicians was fun.. But the greatest part was hanging out with my friends from Knoxville and Memphis. I miss my friends already; spending 4 days with them was NOT enough. I've never met people like them, and I can only pray that I will meet such wonderful people in the future.

This is me and one of my friends outside the Tivoli Theater before our concerts. 

Okay, I'm about to cry. Time to move on to the next thing.

Two weeks after All-State was opening night for my school's production of The Phantom of the Opera. This is a big deal, y'all. Before this year, THS had not put on a musical in 15 years. And with the whole ordeal with our auditorium's roof collapsing and not getting fixed for 6 years.... needless to say, we did not have a strong theater program. Well, in January, we got a new theater teacher/director, Mr. Miller. He is young and ambitious, and he knew that if we didn't put on something big, then our musical may not be successful. He and our principal, Mr. Landis, decided to put on Phantom of the Opera. I have to admit, I didn't think it was going to happen. BUT IT HAPPENED. I played in the orchestra for the musical. It was a lot of work, but nowhere near the amount of work that the cast and crew put in. I am so proud of and happy for them. The show was amazing. We raised a ton of money for the theater program, and honestly I cannot wait to see how it improves in the next few years. 

I don't have a picture of our cast and crew, but our production really sparked my obsession with Phantom! I bought the 25th anniversary production on Blu-Ray. Ahh! It's so good.

The day after our fourth and final Phantom show, I had my last concert with the THS Band. Geez, being a senior is difficult. So many "lasts"! I was focused on the music during the whole concert UNTIL right before the last piece, one of my band directors said, "We're going to have our seniors stand up because this is the last time they'll perform on this stage." Oh my gosh. That killed me. I almost broke down, and I could hardly play for the first part of our last song. Now why did he have to say that? Goodness, my heart. I'm going to miss the THS Band more than I can express. I seriously do not know where I would be without it. 

I don't have a picture from the concert, but here's a picture from the program. The band is getting new uniforms next year, and they changed the logo to its original design (from before we got the current uniforms). I think it looks so sharp!

The week of the concert, I had my Advanced Placement tests. Advanced Placement tests are nationally standardized tests. They're a big deal, y'all. These tests determine whether you get college credit for taking a college-level course. At THS, if you get an A in an AP class, you get a 5.0 averaged into your GPA. People always ask how AP is more difficult than a Motlow class, but if you get an A in a Motlow (community college) course, you only get a 4.5. If you get a certain score on an AP course, then your college will exempt you from the introductory level of that course. However, at most private schools, Motlow classes don't transfer. SO, that's why I've taken the extra time, effort, and brain power to take AP courses instead of Motlow courses. Anyway, on May 7th I took the Psychology AP exam, and on May 10th I took the English Literature one. They were total brain-drains, but I feel pretty good about them. Last year I took U.S. History, English Language, and Microeconomics (economics for businesses, as opposed to Macroeconomics, which is more government-focused). I will get college credit for my English and Microeconomics tests, so I'm pretty happy about that! For this year's tests, I studied more than I have ever studied before. Seriously. I wasn't worried about failing, but I knew I needed to study... Man. I'm glad those are over! Because students across the country take the same tests, I won't get my scores back until late July. Soooo, I'll let you know how that goes!

These are vocabulary flash cards from ONE unit of AP psychology. There were 14 units! This is biological psych.

Okay. After my AP English exam, I only had a few days of high school left. The next Monday - the 14th - was senior awards night. This is where the local scholarships were given out. I received a scholarship from Kiwanis International for being an outstanding Key Club member. I was so happy - I have really enjoyed my time in Key Club, and I was ecstatic to get a scholarship for it! Before the program, though, I got a scholarship in my mailbox! I got a $2,000 scholarship from the Avon Foundation for Women. WOW!! That will really help. I am so thankful! 

On senior awards day at school, I couldn't attend because I was taking an AP exam. But I received honors awards for psychology, Spanish, and history! My teachers were recognizing me for being a good student, but I really should be thanking all of them. 

The next night was the Brass Recital. We had all the middle school and high school brass players play a piece together, and there were also some small ensembles and soloists. I played a piece with the brass from the Symphonic Band, one with all the French horns, and then the one with all the brass players. I also played my solo! Ahhh, my solo is difficult. If you want to look it up, it's called Adagio and Allegro by Robert Schumann. I only played part of it, though, because I didn't think everyone would want to listen to 10 minutes of me playing. I played some of the Allegro part... Allegro means fast, and boy... That thing is fast! It went really well, though. I got a lot of compliments! It's so  nice to see the middle schoolers get to play with the high schoolers. I remember when I was in middle school; I thought the high schoolers were so old-looking and intimidating! I mean, some of them had FACIAL HAIR! Whooooah! hehehe :)

Tuesday was also my last day of high school. Wednesday was supposed to be my last day, but all of my teachers told me that I didn't have to go on Wednesday. I just had to clean out my locker, turn in a textbook, and take care of a few last things before leaving THS forever. It seems so unreal that I'm finished with high school. I'm on summer break, but it feels like I'll be going back to THS band camp in the middle of July. I can't decide whether I'm happy or sad.. I've never felt this much emotional turmoil! It's just hard to believe that I won't be a student of Tullahoma City Schools. It's been 13 years! I'm so thankful for TCS, though, and for all the teachers who have helped me out along the way. And I can't thank my family and friends enough for supporting me - especially my parents. They paid for me to go to Tullahoma schools (because we don't live in Tullahoma), they went to all my football games, and they always made sure I had time to focus on schoolwork. SO if you're one of those people who's supported me throughout my 18.5 years, THANK YOU! I would NOT be here without you. 

My mom was getting pretty nostalgic last night, and she found all these pictures of me growing up.

Well, my next post will probably be about graduation. I've got a lot coming up: Baccalaureate, graduation party, senior luncheon, band banquet, graduation, and project grad... I'm looking forward to it! Thank you for reading!

About a week ago, I got to pick out a Pandora bracelet as a graduation gift! I don't get to wear it until after my graduation party, though. Bluhhh!

This is my senior prophecy in the school newspaper. The seniors write these for each other, predicting where we'll all be in 10 years. I pray that this little prophecy comes true! 

Confirming Enrollment

Well, folks, I finally made a decision.
I'm going to Belmont University!


I am SO ridiculously excited.
How am I going to survive the last 8 weeks of high school? I have no friggin' idea.

After a loooong talk on the balcony of our condo at Pigeon Forge, my parents and I decided that every aspect of Belmont is perfect for me. I am so proud/excited to be a Belmont bruin!!

That's right!

MY NEW HOME.

Yeah, yeah, you know I couldn't get through my enrollment confirmation without taking some cheesy photos!

I am SO thankful to God for making this possible and to my parents for being so supportive! My parents never really made me feel like I had to choose another school because of the money. I'm so blessed  that they are letting me go to my dream school.

Thanks for following my college decision process, friends! I'm so lucky to call Belmont home!

Spring Break Update

Hello everyone! I am posting this blog from Pigeon Forge, TN, where my parents and I are spending our spring break. This is the second week of my school's break, and I am so glad to be spending it here. Well, the title says it's an update, so here goes.

Last Tuesday and Wednesday, THS hosted the MTSBOA (Middle TN School Band and Orchestra Association) Concert Performance Assessment. Bands from southern middle TN came to THS to play their concert music and be graded on it. We had to have a LOT of student volunteers to make this work. We needed people to set up the stage for each band, people to work at the registration desk, judges' assistants, and band guides... Each band had an assigned warm-up time, performance time, and sight-reading time. Each of these activities was in a different location. SO, the band guides had to lead the bands to each room. That was my job. I loved it! I got to observe several band directors. I saw plenty of good things that directors did with their bands. I enjoyed volunteering, even though it took up an entire two days of my much-needed break from school.

On Friday, I went to my cousin Kacy's wedding rehearsal dinner. I got to meet the other bridesmaids, eat a great meal (Kacy had picked the menu and we love the same foods), and run through the wedding a couple of times. I had never even BEEN to a wedding before, and so the rehearsal was new to me! To be honest, I really had no idea what was going on for a really long time. By the last run through, though, I understood everything. Or mostly everything.

The wedding was Saturday, and it was beautiful. It was at the theater at Motlow State C.C. and the colors were dark red and black. The theme was Disney. All the bridesmaids and Kacy got to Motlow several hours early to chill and start getting ready. The other bridesmaids were super friendly and the time flew by. The ceremony was wonderful. I didn't legitimately cry, but I got teary eyed several times... when Kacy came down the aisle, when Jeremy sang to Kacy, and when someone introduced my cousin as "Kacy Wilson." That's definitely going to take some getting used to! I am so glad Kacy found her match. I'm super happy for them. I wish them all the best!
Sorry I don't have any photos of the wedding. I'll make another post after Kacy posts her pictures on Facebook so I can steal them, hehe! Here's a little picture my mom took of me before the ceremony.

I LOVE THIS DRESS. I can totally wear it to other fancy functions! And look! WE GOT TO WEAR FLATS!! Thanks, Kacy, for not making us wear ugly dresses and heels. And look at the adorable Minnie ears and necklace :)

College Decision Update

• Do I have a college decision? No.
• Do I have more scholarship information? Yes: a music scholarship from Belmont - and I'm almost positive my TTU music scholarship is in my mailbox at home right now.
• Am I very, very close to making a decision? Yes.
• Have I talked everything over with my parents? Yes.
  
  
  Right now, my parents and I have pretty much come to a conclusion about where I will be spending the next four years. We are extremely excited, but we don't want to "make it public" until after we have sent in an enrollment confirmation. Get ready for a cliche here... I feel as though the world has been lifted off my shoulders. My anxiety and nervousness is gone because the uncertainty is gone. Basically, I am 99.9% sure of where I will be going this fall, and the only reason I'm not screaming it from the rooftops is that I want to wait until everything is official. After that, I will be sure to make a new blog post.
  
  
  See you soon, everyone! Thanks for reading!
  Remember: Never give up; you never know who is looking up to you.

Keeping on the sunny side in early spring

Hello again, faithful readers! Sorry it's been so long, but I try to wait to post until after there have been several exciting events in my life. Gotta keep my posts exciting!

Well, first of all.. IT'S ALMOST SPRING BREAK!! Yeah! I have two exams: one Thursday morning and one Friday morning. Friday afternoon I have to stay to set up for a huge event at the high school... but we will get to that later. After that, though, I'm free for two weeks! I am so excited! It's a little bittersweet, though, because after break I only have about 30 days of high school left. 30 days with wonderful teachers, 30 days of mandatory attendance, 30 days with the greatest principal ever, and 30 days to be in the Tullahoma Band... Yeah, that last one makes me cry every time. Anyway, let's get to what's been happening in my life lately.

Right after my last post, I went to the Mock Trial regional competition in Columbia. We worked SO HARD and we did great, but we didn't come home with the trophy. Some members were disappointed and sad, but I felt indifferent. I wouldn't have been able to go to the state competition because of my cousin's wedding, anyway. And hey, you win some, you lose some. Tullahoma had won the regional competition 6 years in a row, so it was time for another school to experience the state competition! I am happy for Columbia Academy and hope they do well!
Sorry I don't have any pictures from the event; it was a busy day, and we didn't have much time for pictures!

The Saturday after Mock Trial (last Saturday) was SUPER busy. My cousin Kacy had a family luncheon at Miss Mary Bobo's in Lynchburg to celebrate her wedding. It was the last time we would all be together before the rehearsal dinner! It was my first time to go to that restaurant. The food was INCREDIBLE, but I couldn't eat too much because I was in a pageant later that night. Here are some photos from the luncheon...

Kacy, our grandpa, and me.. He is the best Papa ever!

Me, our grandma, and Kacy. I love you Nanny!!

I can't wait to go back to Miss Bobo's when I can eat as much as I want! The food was so yummy. Fried chicken, okra, potatoes, chess pie, baked apples... If you haven't gone, you definitely should plan a trip there soon.

That night, I competed in the Miss Tullahoma pageant. This year was not nearly as stressful as last year because I wore the same dress and shoes that I wore last year. Also, I basically replicated my spray tan, make-up, and hairstyle from homecoming, so I was really comfortable with the way I looked. Here are some pics!

This is me after my make-up and hair appointments. Spray tan: Sunshine Shack, Make-up: Merle Norman, hair: JP Designs, and nails (which, sadly, aren't in any of my photos): Cali Nails.

This is me and my good friend Kaitlyn. She got 4th runner-up!! Congrats Kaitlyn!

This one was taken by Mrs. Jo Todd. Thanks Mrs. Todd! 

Well, I had a blast at the pageant! I was thrilled when I was chosen to be in the top 20 (there were 32 participants), and ecstatic to be in the top 10!! The top 10 had to answer an on-stage question. Thankfully, we had received copies of the questions the day before the pageant. My question was, "What do you think schools can do to encourage healthy lifestyles for teenagers?" My answer was something along the lines of, "Schools should offer physical education classes and healthful food. Your lifestyle isn't just the way you live at school, though, so parents also have a large responsibility in encouraging healthy and active lifestyles for their teenagers." And then some kind of concluding sentence. I honestly don't even remember answering the question... I was just trying to remember to breathe! I am so thankful for my experience in Distinguished Young Women (formerly known as Junior Miss).. without it I would not have been able to answer that question.
I got several compliments about my answer, but I guess the judges didn't think it was too great. I didn't get in the top 5. I probably should have stuck to answering the question instead of giving my opinion... But I really don't think schools can do that much to keep kids healthy; parents have to do that at home. Oh well. I really like the girl who won Miss Tullahoma.. She is a great friend and she will represent well.

My next big event was last night (Tuesday night). It was the Middle Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association Concert Festival. Wow, that's a mouthful! Anyway, the THS Symphonic Band (the higher-level concert band at THS) traveled by CHARTER BUS to MTSU to play our concert music for judges. We left school right after rehearsal. We got to MTSU and watched 2 or 3 bands perform, and then the chaos started! Well, it wasn't really chaos; they pretty much have it down to a science. We had 30 minutes to warm up. This included tuning, individual warm-up, and running through difficult parts of the music. Then, we got on stage. We performed Grade 6 literature. Band music is rated on a scale of 1 to 6, with 6 being the most difficult. Needless to say, our music was pretty hard! We performed really well, though.
Then, we went to the sight reading room. There, we got folders with music inside. When the judge said OK, we took the music out of the folder and got to look at it for the first time. We had 8 minutes to look over the music - we use some time to look at it individually, and then our director runs through it with us. During the 8 minutes, we can do anything EXCEPT play our instruments. After the 8 minutes, we play the music.

Well, we knew that we did well on our prepared music, but the sight reading was pretty shaky. We got all superior scores, though!! Superior is the highest score you can receive, and we got it in every single category  (including tone, intonation, accuracy, etc.) Today we listened to the judges' tapes, and they hardly had any criticisms! I am super proud of this band for putting in so many hours of hard work and for being completely dedicated to these pieces of music. If you're curious, we played Valdres (a Norwegian march) and The Hounds of Spring.

Next Tuesday and Wednesday, my school will be hosting the 3rd week of the MTSBOA Concert Festival. Several bands will come to THS to go through the same process we went through at MTSU. I'm eager to work at this event because I want to meet band directors, see my friends from other schools, and hear other band programs. It will be a lot of work, but it will get our school on the map. I'm excited to show off our amazing state-of-the-art auditorium! :)

Sorry for the lack of photos in this blog.. But here's a nice picture I took of myself this morning! Hehe.

Okay, so no, Bisby didn't win the mayoral election this year. But I still support him and I love this shirt my boyfriend gave me!

COLLEGE DECISION UPDATE!

My latest piece of information was an acceptance letter from Belmont's School of Music. The acceptance didn't come with any scholarship notification, though.

Both TTU and Belmont will let me know about music scholarships around March 15. Hopefully I will receive the letters before leaving for vacation! I am just beyond ready to know which school I'm attending. I want to start planning my dorm room decorations, housing situation, meal plan, etc. 

Thank goodness for Pinterest! That site helps me immensely with dorm room ideas!

So basically, this college decision update isn't much of an update. This process is painstakingly slow! I just continue to pray for patience and the ability to be happy with whichever school I have to attend.

Keep in touch; scholarships and decisions should be happening very soon.

Thanks for reading, friends! And keep smiling!

February 23rd update: Meh.

Hello everyone! It's February 23rd, and I don't really have much to update you on! But here goes nothin'.

Shortly after my last post, I completed the last of my scholarship applications. YAY! I had gotten so tired of filling in my name, address, GPA, extracurricular activities, etc. Oh yeah, and WRITING ESSAYS. Sheesh. I feel like the world has been lifted off my shoulders. And it feels gooood.

This post doesn't have many pictures, so here's a cool pic of my audition music!

I also had my last college audition on February 11th. It was at Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music. Last semester, when I was in the Nashville Youth Symphony, we rehearsed at Blair and had our concert there in December. So I was pretty familiar with the building. I had also met Blair's French horn teacher during Governor's School. Well, my audition was decent - not spectacular, but not horrendous. After my audition, I had a bit of down time before an information session with current Blair students. My mom and I didn't feel like getting lost in Nashville that day, so we just went down the road to Burger King. Classic, I know. Anyway, when we got back, I went to talk with/listen to some Blair students while my mom did the same with some Blair parents. The information session was nice and the students were great, but I just heard some things that really turned me off. Well, just one thing, really. At Vanderbilt, there is no "music education" degree. If you want to be a music teacher, you have to go to Vandy for 5 years. You graduate with a Master's degree, but listen to this: while at Vandy, you can't major or minor in anything else. :O!!!! Their program is like a double-major in music and education, so you have no room to study anything but music and education. Honestly, the minute I heard that, I was ready to leave. The last thing I want to do is study just one thing for the entire four (or five) years that I'm at college!
So anyway, I'm pretty much counting out Vanderbilt. I think I can still be admitted into their "Arts and Sciences" school, which is like liberal arts stuff, but I just don't think I'm going to go there. They don't give many merit-based scholarships, anyway.

Well, last weekend, Shane and I had our belated Valentine's Day celebration. I had just been to my cousin's fancy-pants bridal tea party earlier that day, so I decided to get really dressed up.

Don't we look spiffy?

We went to Red Lobster (yeeeahhhh!) and then watched Everybody Loves Raymond. So romantic. It was a super fun date. I'm thankful I have someone who can have loads of fun just sitting with me and watching movies! Shane gave me a kick-butt Belmont shirt and I gave him....

Little Miss Sunshine, a pack of cards - each card has something I love about him on it, and really cool wrapped ear buds. Those ear buds took about 8 hours total to finish! I'm such a good girlfriend. :)

Saturday (the 25th) is my Mock Trial regional competition at the courthouse in Columbia. Mock Trial is like a fake court trial. Each school's team has attorneys and witnesses. Witnesses have to memorize depositions and attorneys come up with opening/closing statements, questions, and the most fun thing (sarcasm)... OBJECTIONS. The competition is in a legit courtroom with a judge and a jury. The people who sit in the jury box are the people who are actually scoring our performance, though. The judge really just settles objections and arguments. In each trial, the defense side is from one school, and the plaintiff/prosecution side is from another school. Last year I was a witness for our team, but there were a couple of trials where I ended up questioning the other team's attorney... This year I'm an attorney. I'm having a pretty difficult time, but I think we're going to be great. I actually have practice in a couple of hours, so I should hurry up and finish this post! I'll let you know how our competition goes.

I don't have any new information about scholarships, but I did receive one bit of exciting news since my last post.... I WAS ACCEPTED TO BELMONT'S HONORS PROGRAM! Only 54 people are accepted to the program each year! I was really worried about it because the application for the program was so weird. The question that stood out in my mind was something like, "If you could have a letter of recommendation from any celebrity or public figure, who would it be and why?" I chose Vermin Supreme, who ran for president as a joke. Look him up on Youtube. He wears a boot on his head and thinks everyone is entitled to a government-issued pony. Anyway, the honors program is a big deal at Belmont. The class sizes are tiny, you get to hear special lectures, and in your senior year you write a thesis. I'm so thankful to have been accepted, and if I do go to Belmont, I'm sure the honors program will be something I'll really love! It feels SO nice that my hard work is paying off. This is my salary for my work in high school.

I guess that's all for this post. Thanks so much for reading about my random and boring activities. Hopefully in March I will know more about scholarships and college stuff, so my blog will become more interesting. In the mean time, I will be looking for a summer job around Tullahoma so I'll actually have something to do with my long summer. Let me know if you hear of anything!

Thanks for reading! And remember... you're the most beautiful when you're smiling.