There is one thing besides my phone that goes basically everywhere with me.
Meet my water bottle.

I bought it for $10 on Amazon. It isn’t even worth that much. Yet it is so important to me.

Now, first of all, I drink a lot of water. If I don’t have my water bottle, I can’t focus. So this travels with me everywhere.

It sits through my classes with me, and helps me keep focus during class and while doing homework.
It saves me money at on-campus dining locations because I never have to buy a drink.
It comes to the gym with me and sits in the holder attached to the treadmill.
It comes to my bible studies, extracurricular meetings, and scholar program events.
It experiences my adventures with me, preparing me for a long hike and making sure that I am staying healthy and quenched throughout my workout.

It has taught me that I can enjoy room-temperature water just as much as ice water.
It reminds me that not everyone in this world is lucky enough to have water fountains with filtered-water refill stations on the back of them.

I think in this world we don’t often appreciate the little things in our life. We have become a materialistic people, where what we have is never enough. But this simple, $10 water bottle brings me so much joy.

There is so much beauty in simplicity.

P.S. …did I mention this water bottle is basically indestructible? I’ve dropped it at least 287 times. And it’s still in prime condition. Best $10 I ever spent.

Nursing is definitely my path. It’s what I feel will bring me the most in life and what I will enjoy overall. Sometimes, though, I wonder what it would be like to be an English major.

English has always been my passion, and I feel like I do my best work when I’m writing. It comes naturally to me, a polar opposite of Calculus and Statistics. English could be considered my talent; I have the ability to transfer poetry from my mind to paper like it’s second nature, creative ideas come to me as if they were being pulled out of a mental queue, and I can write a three page essay in under an hour without editing it.

But, because I knew I didn’t want to pursue it as a major, I found a way to write without pursuing it as a career. I began to write my thoughts down & read poetry and short stories.
This year I have also grown very close with my faith and I have begun to journal passages out of my Bible — it is a great stress reliever and allows me to write down the multitude of thoughts I’m having.

In conclusion, this year I have been really using my journals as a hobby and enjoy reading back through them. My writing brings back past memories, allows me to document the present, and provides a way for me to look back in the future.

Artifact #1: My Piano and its connection to me today (Mount Scholars Project)

My parents started me in piano lessons when I was five. It began as a difficulty; in my elementary mind, learning was not pleasant — I wanted to know how to do something and not have to work at it, so having to practice at home and struggle to learn was not interesting to my little mind.

But, as I got older, Thursday piano lessons began to show me benefits. My grandpa sat next to me beaming as I played Amazing Grace at Christmas, I was greeted with satisfied handshakes after playing at nursing homes, and my grade school friends were intrigued by the fact that I had musical ability. I even got close to my piano teacher and she taught me some very important lessons.

With piano, I gained a sense of pitch; this meant that I somewhat developed the ability to sing. I’m not sure when I discovered it, but eventually I was singing karaoke in the living room and learning piano pieces for songs on the radio.
I stopped taking lessons in sixth grade when I moved to Ohio, but my interest in music didn’t stop there. I learned pieces on my own. I explored my interest in music by taking choir classes, trying out for solos and getting them. I took it upon myself to teach myself guitar.

In high school, my musical abilities brought me to show choir and the Fairfield Choraliers. I learned musical theory, eventually gained leadership positions to teach vocals, and mentored middle school students. It taught me how to love other people, to lead other people, and to be a part of something bigger than myself through music.

Our competition show from my senior year can be watched here:

I also had the opportunity to sing solos each year and gain confidence in performing in front of others — I used to be very shy about singing in front of people.
My junior year cabaret solo:

A duet I performed with my friend:

My final solo I performed as a senior:

With the ability to play guitar, piano and sing, I was offered a position on the worship team for my senior year at my church, something that allowed me to connect my faith to music and share my abilities with the church.

Music has taught me so much — and I trace it all back to that first time I plucked a middle C out on the piano. The piano brought me into my musical abilities that now allow me to connect to my faith, connect to other people, and connect to groups; that is something I am so thankful for.
My piano is not always physically with me (that would have been interesting to try to fit into a dorm room), but the once inconvenient lessons from my youth were the primary development of the music that lives in me today. I don’t have to have my piano with me for it to represent me; it was my musical foundation and helped me to discover how I can use music in my life. It is not my profession, but it is something that is very close to my heart and something I will involve myself with for the rest of my life.