Spring break + community service

There haven't been any blog posts for a while because I've been incredibly busy lately.  I tend it think the next week will always be a bit slower than the last but it's rarely the case.  Spring break starts tomorrow and I'll be heading on the STLF Pay It Forward Tour to Denver.  The Pay It Forward Tour is a community service based alternative spring break trip and we are stopping in 6 cities besides Denver and doing service in each city.  There's a group of about 20 from UMC going, with a few from UND and MSUM, and we're all traveling on a charter bus for 9 days.  Because of this, I'll have minimal to no internet access for the next week but I'm looking forward to serving across the country.



Community service again reminds me of my farm background because of my involvement in 4-H.  It was through 4-H that I got so involved in community service and realized that I thoroughly enjoyed giving to others and making the community a better place.  I did many community service projects in 4-H, including one large one in which I, and 15 others in my county 4-H, sewed 500 pieces of adaptive clothing for injured soldiers and delivered them to Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C.  It's incredible to see the impact that community service can have and I look forward to seeing that this week over my spring break trip.  Doing community service isn't your typical collegiate spring break trip, but I know it's one I'll enjoy.

Graduating a year early

I'll be graduating from college before I can even legally drink, unlike most, and that's because I'm graduating in 3 years rather than the typical 4 or even 5 years.  Those who I met as a freshman are sometimes surprised that I'm graduating this year and those who I met later are sometimes surprised that I'm only 20.

My small town high school did not offer ag education classes like many and there were not a lot of classes offered for college-bound students.  To keep myself occupied with more challenging courses, as I liked to stay busy, I took 16 college credits each semester of my senior year of high school with a combination of online and ITV (interactive television) classes.  These classes were all administered through three different community and technical colleges and I was able to get most of my generals done while I was in high school.  I learned a lot from each of the classes and felt better prepared for college.  Looking back, I'm not really sure how I managed to maintain such a good GPA in those classes because I was still a senior in high school and involved in many extracurriculars, as well as being a MN State 4-H Ambassador that year.  While there are things that I have wished my high school had, such as FFA, I am glad that it gave me the opportunity to take college classes for dual-enrollment without ever leaving my high school.  Those college classes in high school are the reason I am graduating a year early from college.

I attribute part of the reason that I had the drive to take college courses in high school to my farm background.  I've seen my dad work hard every day on the farm so I have always wanted to work hard myself and have always kept myself busy, whether it be with school work, work, or extracurriculars.