Seventeen. Seventeen is how old I am now. Seventeen is how old I will be when I graduate from high school. Seventeen is also the age at which I am expected to know my lifetime goals and have my future already planned out. Yet I am just now beginning to learn who I really am as a maturing human being and active member of society. Truthfully, I do not know exactly what I want to do with my life or...

Seventeen. Seventeen is how old I am now. Seventeen is how old I will be when I graduate from high school. Seventeen is also the age at which I am expected to know my lifetime goals and have my future already planned out. Yet I am just now beginning to learn who I really am as a maturing human being and active member of society. Truthfully, I do not know exactly what I want to do with my life or...

The voice of the teacher was pointed in my direction, but my eyes were elsewhere, panning the room and looking at all the beautifully crafted instruments surrounding me. “Who’s your private teacher?” I looked up and her curious gaze was on me. I could feel my cheeks flush red as the room grew warmer. “Oh,” I paused. “I don’t...have one…” I felt misplaced once again, among all the skilled students around me who had their own teachers...

Seventeen. Seventeen is how old I am now. Seventeen is how old I will be when I graduate from high school. Seventeen is also the age at which I am expected to know my lifetime goals and have my future already planned out. Yet I am just now beginning to learn who I really am as a maturing human being and active member of society. Truthfully, I do not know exactly what I want to do with my life or...

My friends always told me I'd end up going to UT Austin, but I didn't believe them. I wanted to make my own decision, not based off of what they said they thought I should do. I wanted to go...

I was always an “over achiever” in high school and even though I was sometimes made fun of because of it, it paid off in the end. I graduated under my school's "Distinguished" program,...

The "Longhorn State of Mind" is what sets the University of Texas at Austin apart from other schools. We embrace diversity among all students and celebrate it together in a...

Being an active member of my church’s worship team has played an important role in shaping me into the disciplined musician and student I am today. My church worship leader wrote one...