When I was in high school, the big deal thing you did as a Senior was Sterling Scholar
It was a scholarship program run thru Deseret News and the KSL news station
There are 12 categories, everywhere from General studies, Foreign Language, Visual Arts, uh, whatever Homemaking has involved into, Science and Math, English, etc etc, you get the idea
You couldn’t even enter the program unless you had at least a 3.7gpa
and they looked at your whole high school career—diversity of activities, success, community, sports, church (i mean hey, this was Utah)
And then looked at your expertise within your focus area, whatever that was
So if you wanted to try out for Foreign Language, they would expect that you had studied two or more languages, spoke a foreign language of course, and also that you visited a foreign country or countries. So I knew people that would plan “academic” trips to “foreign” places with the intent of being able to list that in their Sterling Scholar portfolio.
I heard about this scholarship since I was in like 7th grade
Where I grew up for MOST of my schooling, I remember noticing the Visual Arts sterling scholar people
And that they worked on entering all kinds of art contests and fairs, and took AP Art for like two years
And their goal was to pass the AP Art test with a 5
(again so they could have that in their Sterling Scholar portfolio)
I entered all kinds of art contests also, but not with that purpose really because honestly I thought that was WAY out of my league. I mean I had always been good at Art in general, but these people like LIVED and BREATHED this stuff, and man, I wasn’t THAT crazy into it, I just liked it
So I won Reflections contests here and there, entered various different things and always won some little thing, nothing serious
I finally took an Art class my Junior year but only was there for a quarter because then we moved, but I really liked it, had a really good teacher, did some good drawings, sat next to a cool girl who I was friends with, and really enjoyed the class a lot.
That was Hurricane High School.
It was a scholarship program run thru Deseret News and the KSL news station
There are 12 categories, everywhere from General studies, Foreign Language, Visual Arts, uh, whatever Homemaking has involved into, Science and Math, English, etc etc, you get the idea
You couldn’t even enter the program unless you had at least a 3.7gpa
and they looked at your whole high school career—diversity of activities, success, community, sports, church (i mean hey, this was Utah)
And then looked at your expertise within your focus area, whatever that was
So if you wanted to try out for Foreign Language, they would expect that you had studied two or more languages, spoke a foreign language of course, and also that you visited a foreign country or countries. So I knew people that would plan “academic” trips to “foreign” places with the intent of being able to list that in their Sterling Scholar portfolio.
I heard about this scholarship since I was in like 7th grade
Where I grew up for MOST of my schooling, I remember noticing the Visual Arts sterling scholar people
And that they worked on entering all kinds of art contests and fairs, and took AP Art for like two years
And their goal was to pass the AP Art test with a 5
(again so they could have that in their Sterling Scholar portfolio)
I entered all kinds of art contests also, but not with that purpose really because honestly I thought that was WAY out of my league. I mean I had always been good at Art in general, but these people like LIVED and BREATHED this stuff, and man, I wasn’t THAT crazy into it, I just liked it
So I won Reflections contests here and there, entered various different things and always won some little thing, nothing serious
I finally took an Art class my Junior year but only was there for a quarter because then we moved, but I really liked it, had a really good teacher, did some good drawings, sat next to a cool girl who I was friends with, and really enjoyed the class a lot.
That was Hurricane High School.
So now enter Richfield High School.
We moved there 4th quarter my Junior year.
If Hurricane was a 10 in academic competency, Richfield was like a 2. I went from having 2+ hours of homework a night, to about 1/2 hour.
School was super easy, it seemed like if you showed up, had a good attitude and were breathing in and out regularly, you got an A
(Hence every year there is a MAD contest for who will get Valedictorian because there are like 15 candidates…lol…)
They are a lot NICER people than Hurricane people though, so within a few days I had tons of friends, where in Hurricane I only hung out with a few people and everyone was in their own little group they had been in since elementary
(so as one of the Springdale people who didn’t show up until 7th grade, I was pretty much on the outsides of any social groups but was tolerated because I played sports)
So if Richfield was a 10 Socially, Hurricane was a 2, so they both had good points
I tried to continue my Art class at Richfield and let’s just say it was a total bust
The teacher was…hmm… really different. And where I had just been in a very encouraging, creative environment with my last class, this one, was just the opposite. The teacher basically TOLD you what to draw and how to draw it, even going so far as to draw some people’s stuff FOR THEM, and so when he told me I had to do my drawing one way, I was like, no, I want to do it this way…he wasn’t happy, yelled at me, I yelled back, he told me I was an “ignorant art student” and blah blah… I left, checked out of his class the next day, and took a TA job at the local elementary which was BOMB. So Art teacher pretty much hated me, but eh, who cares, just a grumpy old man
We moved there 4th quarter my Junior year.
If Hurricane was a 10 in academic competency, Richfield was like a 2. I went from having 2+ hours of homework a night, to about 1/2 hour.
School was super easy, it seemed like if you showed up, had a good attitude and were breathing in and out regularly, you got an A
(Hence every year there is a MAD contest for who will get Valedictorian because there are like 15 candidates…lol…)
They are a lot NICER people than Hurricane people though, so within a few days I had tons of friends, where in Hurricane I only hung out with a few people and everyone was in their own little group they had been in since elementary
(so as one of the Springdale people who didn’t show up until 7th grade, I was pretty much on the outsides of any social groups but was tolerated because I played sports)
So if Richfield was a 10 Socially, Hurricane was a 2, so they both had good points
I tried to continue my Art class at Richfield and let’s just say it was a total bust
The teacher was…hmm… really different. And where I had just been in a very encouraging, creative environment with my last class, this one, was just the opposite. The teacher basically TOLD you what to draw and how to draw it, even going so far as to draw some people’s stuff FOR THEM, and so when he told me I had to do my drawing one way, I was like, no, I want to do it this way…he wasn’t happy, yelled at me, I yelled back, he told me I was an “ignorant art student” and blah blah… I left, checked out of his class the next day, and took a TA job at the local elementary which was BOMB. So Art teacher pretty much hated me, but eh, who cares, just a grumpy old man
So my Senior year rolls around and here comes Sterling Scholar.
Richfield let you try out in two different categories: so I tried out for Visual Arts and Foreign Language.
I had a photo that was published in the International Photography Institute photo contest
I had been the yearbook and newspaper photographer
Won numerous awards all through school for my drawings
And I had worked for a photo studio, reading and studying everything I could find
Plus I had spent all summer exploring the mountains as a "Nature Photographer"
I hadn't designed any parade floats, or painted backdrops for the play, but I thought I had some pretty good stuff to offer...??? It was worth a try
Richfield let you try out in two different categories: so I tried out for Visual Arts and Foreign Language.
I had a photo that was published in the International Photography Institute photo contest
I had been the yearbook and newspaper photographer
Won numerous awards all through school for my drawings
And I had worked for a photo studio, reading and studying everything I could find
Plus I had spent all summer exploring the mountains as a "Nature Photographer"
So, first you try out within your school,
The school picks their winner in each category
And then those winners compete in a Regional competition, with all the schools in Sevier county
(winner of school gets a 1/2 tuition scholarship to anywhere in the state, Regional winner gets Full scholarship to anywhere in the state)
So after much drama: a horrible interview w/the Art teacher who hated me, props not showing up, and my competitor being the Art teacher’s little pet….
I WON! lol…2-1 vote for me…. three guesses who the one vote was….lol….
So I was the pick for Richfield High Visual Arts Sterling Scholar
And I was off to Regional competition:
This meant I had to submit my 18page (32sided) portfolio full a 10 pages outline of all my activities, letters of recommendation, and full color photos of all my “Visual Arts” accomplishments.
They looked them over, then we went in for an interview with three college professors from BYU, SUU and USU.
The school picks their winner in each category
And then those winners compete in a Regional competition, with all the schools in Sevier county
(winner of school gets a 1/2 tuition scholarship to anywhere in the state, Regional winner gets Full scholarship to anywhere in the state)
So after much drama: a horrible interview w/the Art teacher who hated me, props not showing up, and my competitor being the Art teacher’s little pet….
I WON! lol…2-1 vote for me…. three guesses who the one vote was….lol….
So I was the pick for Richfield High Visual Arts Sterling Scholar
This meant I had to submit my 18page (32sided) portfolio full a 10 pages outline of all my activities, letters of recommendation, and full color photos of all my “Visual Arts” accomplishments.
They looked them over, then we went in for an interview with three college professors from BYU, SUU and USU.
The pick to win was this really hot guy named Tyler Story.
He had his interview right before me and I remember coming OUT of my interview and seeing him in the hall, a big crowd around him, oohing and ahhing over his drawings w/him standing there soaking it all in, and nodding to me as I walked by (no oohing and ahhing crowd around me as I left) as if to say “ya, you know I am the winner”
So later that week, we went to the Awards ceremony, where they announced the winners of all the categories.
Packed auditorium of parents, all us candidates seated on risers on the stage.
They announced the two runners-up and then the grand prize winner, who all sat in chairs up front for the remainder of the announcing.
I didn’t think I would win at all, maybe a runner up if I was lucky, so I just had a good time
I made friends with the people next to me, we were laughing and making jokes and trying to guess who would win in each category
(that dude looks like a TOTAL geek, he’s gotta be the Math winner…)
So they get to Visual Arts finally, and we all stand up,
and they announce Tyler Story as one of the Runners Up
And everyone is like, WHat? he didn’t win???
And even Tyler kinds seemed like, what is up with that crap?
So for each winner, they read a profile first of the “mystery winner”
But most of them were pretty similar:
Who’s Who member, good grades, plays sports, National Honor Society, blah blah….
So I about choked when I realized the bio was about ME.
I won Regional Sterling Scholar in Visual Arts
(Take that Tyler Story)
He had his interview right before me and I remember coming OUT of my interview and seeing him in the hall, a big crowd around him, oohing and ahhing over his drawings w/him standing there soaking it all in, and nodding to me as I walked by (no oohing and ahhing crowd around me as I left) as if to say “ya, you know I am the winner”
So later that week, we went to the Awards ceremony, where they announced the winners of all the categories.
Packed auditorium of parents, all us candidates seated on risers on the stage.
They announced the two runners-up and then the grand prize winner, who all sat in chairs up front for the remainder of the announcing.
I didn’t think I would win at all, maybe a runner up if I was lucky, so I just had a good time
I made friends with the people next to me, we were laughing and making jokes and trying to guess who would win in each category
(that dude looks like a TOTAL geek, he’s gotta be the Math winner…)
So they get to Visual Arts finally, and we all stand up,
and they announce Tyler Story as one of the Runners Up
And everyone is like, WHat? he didn’t win???
And even Tyler kinds seemed like, what is up with that crap?
So for each winner, they read a profile first of the “mystery winner”
But most of them were pretty similar:
Who’s Who member, good grades, plays sports, National Honor Society, blah blah….
So I about choked when I realized the bio was about ME.
I won Regional Sterling Scholar in Visual Arts
Total surprise, totally surreal, totally weird and totally shocked!
So my first year of college was paid for by my Sterling Scholar scholarship
And you know how many “art” (of any kind at all) classes I took in college???
NONE.
I actually enrolled in one ONCEFriday night from 7-9 in my last year of college
I thought, I’m such a slacker, I gotta at least take some kind of an art class
So I was committed, I was determined, didn’t matter it was 7-9pm on a Friday
I was doing this for the community, for giving me money
And the teacher was a PSYCHO PERSON.I spent the first hour going: “What the hell….”The teacher was Mongolian, I couldn’t understand a word he said 90% of the time
We spent the first 45 minutes watching him HOP (no exaggeration here) from desk to desk going:
What Your Name?And if he was capable of turning his head around upside down, I’m sure he would haveHe let us go for a 5 minute break
And I went home and dropped the class. :)
So my first year of college was paid for by my Sterling Scholar scholarship
And you know how many “art” (of any kind at all) classes I took in college???
NONE.
I thought, I’m such a slacker, I gotta at least take some kind of an art class
So I was committed, I was determined, didn’t matter it was 7-9pm on a Friday
I was doing this for the community, for giving me money
And the teacher was a PSYCHO PERSON.I spent the first hour going: “What the hell….”The teacher was Mongolian, I couldn’t understand a word he said 90% of the time
We spent the first 45 minutes watching him HOP (no exaggeration here) from desk to desk going:
What Your Name?And if he was capable of turning his head around upside down, I’m sure he would haveHe let us go for a 5 minute break
And I went home and dropped the class. :)
GUILT.
GUILT.
GUILT.
So here we are 10 years later and I’ve decided I need to get my act together
So this is me admitting that I am a photographer and an artistAnd I need to do more of both
Or I might be lighteninged from heaven :) lol…
And so here we are:
LOVING what I do
And amazed at how much fun it really is....
So on a more personal note:
I am married to a Painter :)
The handsome and talented Mr. Irish
I have two little girls
I teach high school seniors from 8-12am
So the rest of my day is spent chasing kids and taking pictures!
Give me a call! :)
GUILT.
GUILT.
So here we are 10 years later and I’ve decided I need to get my act together
So this is me admitting that I am a photographer and an artistAnd I need to do more of both
Or I might be lighteninged from heaven :) lol…
And so here we are:
LOVING what I do
And amazed at how much fun it really is....
So on a more personal note:
I am married to a Painter :)
The handsome and talented Mr. Irish
I have two little girls
I teach high school seniors from 8-12am
So the rest of my day is spent chasing kids and taking pictures!
Give me a call! :)
