10, 9, 8, 7, 6… Time runs out. Time has been a key factor in my life; There never seems to be enough hours in a day for my busy lifestyle. With college being a constant count down, it makes me wonder how many days I have left, before time runs out. As a result, I dedicated one day strictly to research colleges. The words “Florida State University”, came popping out of the screen as if it were 3D in comparison to the thousands of others. In their description, I felt like they described my life perfectly. I could still live well-rounded, rather than simplistic. I could continue to pursue my passion, soccer, while also being involved with my Agricultural interests, and getting a degree all at the same time. This was an incentive that was simply irresistable.

Due to the fact that I live a busy life, it is difficult to think of the right words to say, especially while my thoughts are going in a thousand different directions. So I would like to personally walk you step-by-step through a day in my shoes.

I wake up to this ringing in my ears, it is my alarm clock and it reads 5 A.M. I slip on a thick heavy coat and tuck my polar bear pajamas into my mud boots. My pig hears me open the back door and roars, as if to say good morning. She obediently waits by the gate so we can begin our morning stroll. We trod two laps around the acre of land I call my home, through a thin layer of snow leaving a trail of footprints behind. Wheezing in and out cold air that burns through your lungs, we arrive back to the pen for our daily rations of food and water. I rush back inside my toasty home to quickly get dressed for school. By 7 A.M my little brother, although not so little, and I head off to school. I arrive to school an hour early to attend tutorials, my mind seems to be more energetic and cooperative in the mornings anyways. The school bell rings at exactly 8:36, so very precise, and I venture off to my rigorous day. 3:16, the bell rings dismissing class and off to the next we go, like toy soldiers. My school day slowly is coming to an end. 7th period consists of high school girls dressing frantically yelling out things like, “do you have an extra pair of socks?”, or , “do you have a hair tie that I can borrow?”. Eventually we move on the more important things, like actually playing soccer. Practice consists of getting a good warm up, which should make your muscles feel warm to the core, similar to the feeling you get when drinking hot cocoa while sitting outside watching snow fall. Then rapidly evolving into strategic drills, that strive to expand our ability to think quicker and “read” the game, to where it will be as easy as breathing. Finally we end the session with small 4 vs. 4 scrimmages to put what we learned to the test. 4:15 school is out. I rush to change into my FFA official dress, which consists of: jet black pantihoes, medium length jet black skirt, a white short sleeve collared shirt, FFA official scarf, plain medium length black heels, followed by the official corduroy FFA jacket. The Granbury FFA members pile into three vehicles, two suburbans and a truck. Pushing the weight limit in a suburban full of people, who either make you laugh, annoyed, or just flat out bored, is a very unique experience. Let me just point out, wearing official dress makes you feel like you have been dunked in starch. Imagine trying to get some of your homework done during this 2 hour drive, soaked in starch, and locked in an oven full of drowsy teenages. Luckily we made the whole struggle worth it by doing our best in all of our events and coming out either 1st, 2nd, or maybe even 5th. Never-the-less, the feeling I get from placing is euphoric. I earned that, I sacrificed hours of sleep, dedicated multiple hours in a day, strictly to practicing for this one event, to earn the ultimate goal. The feeling of accomplishment courses through your veins, like a tingling sensation, after a high dosage of adrenaline. That is what it is all about, that is what makes life worth living for, those victories, no matter how small. By 10 P.M we are finally headed home. We slog to our school vehicles, blisters on our feet, but a smile on our face. Silently we ride, falling asleep to the humming of the car as it glides across the paved roads, star-gazing through the windows. Finally we pull into the school parking lot and half-asleep walk to our cars. We say our goodbyes and part with a simple “ see you tomorrow”.

Driving home is peaceful, so I am left alone with just my thoughts. These are the times when I ponder over my life. I take a step back and picture my life on a tv screen. As I am watching, I notice all the decisions I have to make, all the time I have left to live my life. Now I  look at life not as a count down, but as an increasing scale of an endless amount of infinite possibilities that never end. Although my time in high school is rapidly coming to an end, my life is not. My life can be kind of hectic and psychotic most of the time, but that is what I enjoy the most, getting to live each day, each moment, to the fullest, while having no regrets. Florida State University stood out to me among the millions of other colleges out there because of the diversity and acceptance offered for being well-rounded at this particular school, which appealed most to me.