WHITNEY HEARD

My Senior Photo Story

C H A P T E R 1 : W H O A M I ?C H A P T E R 2 : B E F O R E I WA S T H E R E W E R E …

C H A P T E R 3 : S U D D E N LY I B E C A M E M E …C H A P T E R 4 ; S C H O O L B E L L S

C H A P T E R 5 : M O R E S C H O O L B E L L SC H A P T E R 6 : I G R E W U P H E R E !

C H A P T E R 7 : G R O W I N G PA I N S, C R U S H E S, A N D B E I N G A G O O D S P O RT.C H A P T E R 8 : M I D D L E S C H O O L

C H A P T E R 9 : I W I S H I C O U L D S E E _ _ _ A G A I N !C H A P T E R 1 0 : B E S I D E S M Y PA R E N T S, T H E R E WA S …

C H A P T E R 1 1 : H I G H S C H O O LC H A P T E R 1 2 : AT L A S T, I ’ M A S E N I O R !C H A P T E R 1 3 : L E TT E R T O M R S. M A C K

E P I L O G U E

Table of Contents

Chapter 1Who am I?

Hi! My name is Whitney. I am a seventeen year old High School senior

in the small town of Ellsworth Michigan. My only goal in life is to be

happy. In my opinion there are three things I

will need to do and maintain in order to

accomplish this. Firstly I must establish myself

SAFELY in the financial world. Secondly

eventually I am going to marry the love of my

life. And most importantly I will keep my faith in God. To me this is a full proof plan and luckily I’ve already

gotten quite a head start in all three

requirements.

Before I was there were…

Adam&Eve

Grandpa Joe&Grandm

a

Aunt Sue&

Mom

Uncle Jim&

Uncle Jeff

Grandpa Jerry&Mimi

Aunt LaurieDad

Uncle Matt

I was born during the summer of ‘95, in the Petoskey Burns Center. My mom got to watch

the Independence day fireworks show from her hospital room window that night. The actual

name choosing for little me was a bit of a struggle. My mom wanted to name me Shelby, but my grandma was quite adamant that doing

so would be a very bad decision. Obviously Grandma won that battle. I’m not sure what my

first few years were like, but in all of my pictures I seemed pretty happy. My first word

was mommy, and I’m assuming my first step was forward. As far as losing my first tooth I do

remember that as soon as I discovered those suckers could come out I started yanking away at the rest. When I was just under two years old

my little sister Hannah was born. She isn’t exactly the light of my life but she sure makes

things more interesting.

Chapter 3:Suddenly I became me..

Chapter 4:School BellsOhhh gosh kindergarten through third grade were definitely some of my best

days. In those years I attended the small Christian school in

Ellsworth called Ebenezer. It was there I met my childhood best friend

Tara. Initially I extremely disliked her but I soon got over that and pretty much

spent every day for the next nine years of my life

with her. Every day at Ebenezer was a little

adventure. There were woods surrounding the perimeter of the school that we were allowed to roam in our free time. A normal recess consisted

of fort building, hot tubbing, and sasquatch

hunting.

Me. Tara

Chapter 5: More School BellsUnfortunately during third grade Tara

decided to transfer to Ellsworth Elementary school due to the rising

cost of her dental work. I was sad for a while but after enough nagging

over the summer my parents let me switch too. Luckily the quarter mile between us hadn’t changed a thing.

During those pre-middle school years in my mom’s desperate attempt to get

rid of my chub, I started playing basketball and softball. I hated it at the time, and would actually hide

those little papers adults would send home with us advertising those week long sports camps. Naturally thanks to my dear friend’s (Kari and Tara)

big fat mouths my mother would find out anyways and force me to go, but

looking back I'm very thankful for her constant insistence that I continue.

Sports have made me form relationships I wouldn’t have

otherwise and given me a confidence in life that all kids need.

Best team EVER.

As I said before, I live in Ellsworth and have for my entire life. However due to

changing family and financial situations I have lived in four houses in this area. But if I could sum up every

single room I’ve ever had in one word, it’d be purple. My favorite house is the

one I lived in for the first fourteen years of my life (we officially moved

out on my birthday). It was a gorgeous yellow farm house on Marion center

road. Behind it there was a small creek that Tara and I would spend hours

catching crayfish with our bare hands in. On the right I have included an old picture that the previous owners had

taken.

Chapter 6: I Grew Up Here!

M Y F I R S T R E AL C R US H WA S N IC K S T OR E Y. I R E M E M B E R T H I N KI N G H E WAS T H E H O TT E S T T H I NG T O E VE R WAL K IN T O

T H E E L E M E N TA RY S C H O O L . AT T H E T I M E H E H AD T H E S E B L E A C H E D H I GH L I GH T S T H AT I N O W R E AL I Z E W E R E

P R O B AB LY N O T A L L T H AT C OO L . E V E N T UA L LY W E L E A R N E D T O H AT E E A C H O T H E R F O R NO PART IC U L AR R E A S O N.

IT WA S A B O U T AT T H AT AGE M Y M O M D E C I D E D I WA S T O O O L D T O N E E D A B ABY S I TT E R A N Y LO N GE R . IT S U C K E D. I H A D

T H E B E S T B A BY S I TT E R I N T H E E N T I R E W OR L D. H E R N AM E WAS M ISS L A R AY A N D S H E M AD E FA NTA S T IC P B & J ’ S . I AM

C ON V IN C E D T H AT H E R S T R AW B E R RY J E L LY WAS T H E R E A S O N F O R M Y S L I GH T C H I L D H O OD O B E S IT Y, B UT I D I D N’ T M I N D.

I C O N T IN U E D S P O RT S AN D AC T UA L LY P IC K E D U P A N E W O N E , VO L L E Y B A L L . AN D S U R P R IS E , I WAS A C T UA L LY G OO D AT I T !

Chapter 7: Growing Pains, Crushes, and Being a Good Sport.

Chapter 8: Middle School

Unfortunately in Ellsworth being in the middle school meant you were once again the little kid as we had to move to the high school

building. Having to change classes all the time was a pain in the butt! I lost my schedule on the first day

and ended up going wherever Kari and Tara

went.

For the first time we had a REAL science class. At the

time it seemed so difficult. I was so naïve back then. I

had no idea what chemistry would bring.

Relationships with boys got to that awkward stage. One

day they were your best friend and the next day “so

and so” wanted to hold your hand. It was a horrible

and confusing time.

Bad quality junior high track photo

Chapter 9: I Wish I Could See ___ Again!

If there was one person I could see again it’d be Mr. McClellan. He was the most predominant father figure during my high school years. I don’t know if he realized it but it was that way with a lot of us kids at the school. He was always there as a shoulder to lean on or simply a listening ear. It always seemed like he could read our

emotions better than we could and knew whether it was a joke we needed or simply some alone time and a

bible verse. Because of him I made my decision to enlist, I learned how I deserved to be treated as a

young woman, and most importantly he taught me to keep my faith in God . A person like him can never be

replaced.

Chapter 10: Besides My Parents, There Was…

Remember that guy I was talking about in chapter seven? The little brat who I used to hate? Well now I just happen to be completely in love with him, and the best part

is… He loves me back. We’ve been together since tenth grade and we’ve definitely had our ups

and downs. However I have never learned so much about myself and life in general than I have

during the moments I’ve had with this guy. There is so much I could say here… But to sum it all up I think I’ll just say that he is my absolute favorite person in the world and I feel so incredibly blessed to have him in my life.

Chapter 11: High SchoolThere’s not much else I

can say about high school except that I

FREAKING LOVED IT. People always complain about wanting to grow up but for me that has never been the case. Friends during nine

months of the year and money for the other

three was the perfect life for me. On top of that I had no financial responsibilities and all the mistakes I made

could be played off as me just being a

teenager. Life was good.

Chapter 12: At Last, I’m A Senior!

Senior year has been a complete whirl wind. I honestly feel like I should still be a sophomore. Going through all of those “lasts” such as football games, pep rallies, and school pictures hasn’t

really fully hit me up until this moment. Are our parents seriously expecting us to be adults now?? We’re still kids for heavens sake! And what about you teachers? Who the heck

decided that I’m fully grown now??? Cause I’d like to give that guy a kick in the face. To be honest future wise I am prepared for this, but mentally and emotionally I’m not so sure I can do

this. I mean I still sleep with a night light on.. In the end I know I have no choice, and I know I have a lot of people

surrounding me with their support, but secretly I’m still hoping Mrs. Spearing will pull me aside in the hall Monday to tell me I

need to retake twelfth grade (fingers crossed).

D E A R E S T M R S . M A C K ,T H E E F F O R T P U T I N T O T H E M E M O R Y B O O K W A S D E F I N I T E L Y W O R T H W H I L E .

I ’ M N O T S O S U R E I “ E N J O Y E D ” I T P E R S E , B U T I T D E F I N I T E L Y M A D E M E A P P R E C I A T E M Y L I F E S O F A R . F U T U R E S E N I O R S N E E D T O D O T H I S B E C A U S E I F E E L L I K E T H R O U G H D O I N G T H I S I H A V E G O T T E N S O M E C L O S U R E O N T H E S U B J E C T O F T H E E M I N E N T D O O M O F M Y C H I L D H O O D .

H A M L E T C O M P L E T E L Y S U C K E D . A N D I W O U L D C A P I T A L I Z E A N D B O L D T H E “ S ” W O R D I F I T W A S N ’ T A L R E A D Y. I T ’ S H A R D T O B E H A P P Y W H I L E R E A D I N G T H A T B O O K . I T H I N K I N T R O D U C I N G A M I D S U M M E R N I G H T ’ S D R E A M M I G H T B E I N T E R E S T I N G . M A Y B E E V E N P U T O N A P L A Y A S O N E O F T H E A S S I G N M E N T S ?

A S F A R A S M Y F U T U R E G O E S I E N L I S T E D I N T H E U S A F B A C K I N F E B R U A R Y S O R I G H T N O W I ’ M J U S T P L A Y I N G T H E W A I T I N G G A M E . I ’ M H O P I N G T O R E C E I V E M Y O F F I C I A L O R D E R S S O M E T I M E B E F O R E J U L Y. I T H I N K W H I L E I ’ M T H E R E R E A D I N G A N D W R I T I N G W I L L B E C O M E M U C H M O R E I M P O R T A N T T O M E D U R I N G T H E M O N T H S O F B A S I C T R A I N I N G A S I T W I L L B E M Y O N L Y M E A N S O F C O M M U N I C A T I O N W I T H M Y L O V E D O N E S .

I R E A L L Y H O P E T O S E E Y O U A R O U N D T H I S S U M M E R . Y O U A R E S O M E O N E I W I L L D E F I N I T E L Y M I S S . I T W A S N I C E T O H A V E A T E A C H E R T H A T S E E M E D M O R E L I K E A P E R S O N . A S A G I R L R E L A T I N G T O Y O U W A S E A S Y. S O K E E P U P T H E G O O D W O R K !

L O V E , W H I T N E Y

Chapter 13: Letter to Mrs. Mack

In the end I wouldn’t change a thing about my life. I love the people who surround me and in a way I am proud of the person I’ve become. If anything was different I’m not so

sure who I’d be or who I’d love. The best part about being at this point in my life is I can be absolutely

whoever I want to be. And well.. That’s exactly where I want to be.

Epilogue:If I Could Live My Life Over Again…