Operation Deer Part II:

Update! A week or so ago, Marie and I completed Operation Deer and gave Aldo a deer mask. Yes, the inside joke is a long story. Well a few days ago Marie and I looked through his office window and couldn’t find the mask! Did he throw it away? Did he hide it? We were sure to find out. So we walked into his office and Aldo scared us by hiding behind the door because he just wanted to hear us squeal, and then uncovered the hilarious truth. He is currently using our deer mask as a coat and hat rack. The mask is happily mounted in the wall, and the antlers are hard at work!

Gratitude Corner

It would be unjust to not give thanks to the cast and crew of Measure for Measure. I learn something new from them every single day, and not a minute goes by without laughs and smiles. Thank you for your light!

I’ve Learned Stuff:

1. Social media can be ugly.

2. Prayer works. I should do it more often.

3. If your laptop needs to restart, plan to not use it for the next three hours.

4. Bullet journals (handmade planners) are a must because if you don’t use it, you forget about all the events you wanted to go to. Yes I did that.

5. I have a passion for teaching the arts and mentoring students.

6. I love my little three (almost four) year old cousin, Gracelyn to the moon and back. She thinks I’m a real princess.

7. Patience sucks.

8. Families are confusing.

9. Friends are also confusing.

10. But God is forever constant.

I Can’t Forget Where I Came From

The seniors are Ridgeview High School are graduating! I am seeing all of the posts and pictures of all the excitement from my friends back home. I’ve been watching them all writing titles such as “Last Monday of High School!” or “Last homework assignment!” and I suddenly realized how much of my core being is what I found within myself in high school. I suddenly remembered my gut sink when I was at graduation at the fairgrounds. We started walking in and I hugged a pole because I wasn’t ready. I was so excited and nervous for the future and I was exceptionally proud of myself and family. I’ve come to appreciate my teachers from high school exponentially more and more the longer I am away from them. I may be in college now, but every single staff member and every teacher at RVHS helped me get here. Everyday I was being molded into someone that had love and compassion and support surrounding me from every angle. Those coaching me and lifting me up were modeling me how to be a student and friend of perseverance and grit. Ridgeview taught me that I had the power to fight for what I know I want and for what I know is right. I was given the freedom and support to call out what I knew was unfair and wrong. Ridgeview believed in me before I believed in myself. I am forever grateful for my time at Ridgeview and making the decision to become a Raven was one of the best decisions I have ever made. As the year begins to come to a close for all of us in academics, I want to say thank you. Thank you for allowing me to make mistakes with enough tough love to teach me how to not make them again. Thank you for the education and the tools, resources, and opportunities to discover what I’m passionate about advocating for. And thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for celebrating me when I felt I was undeserving, and for doing so for hundreds of students. You, my friends, changed my life. Thank you.