Lauren Hinkle

ABCs, 123s, and Democrat or Republican?

I was a very lucky three and a half year old. My mother was a stay at home mom in my
precious years when I was growing faster than ever. As the first born child, I had special
attention placed on myself from my parents. As good parents do, they read to me and taught me
words at a very young age. My mom always said I developed earlier than most children my age.
By three and a half, not only could I spell my entire name, but I also could tell you the political
platforms of each candidate of the 2000 presidential election and which one I would vote for.
My first memories of learning began at home, in my living room, with my mom and my purple
Step2 chalkboard easel; those are memories I will forever cherish.

So, what became of The Boy Who Lived?

In elementary school, my least favorite special

was media center. To me, it was the most boring place
that elementary school had to offer, and it was a complete
outrage that we were forced against our little 7-year-old
wills to go and pick out books that we would read to be
tested on by the Accelerated Reader program. I
remember in 1st grade, I decided to really challenge
myself, and I picked a big book. I brought home
Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. This was a big
difference for my little first grade brain that was used to American Girl novels and things of that
nature. I remember asking my mom to read this new book to me because I was having trouble

Lauren Hinkle
remembering the difference between Hagrid and Dumbledore, (who were both large, old men). I
would cuddle up beside her as she read to me, and we both tried to decipher this book of magic
and weird words. Finishing this book was a victory and defeat all wrapped into one. You see,
when I finally took my AR test, I scored a 70 percent. For straight-A little Lauren, this was a
difficult thing to swallow. After that AR test, I opted against finishing the Harry Potter series.

AP English: For Dummies

High school English was a

whole new ballgame for me. As much
as my middle schools language arts
classes helped prepare me for high
school, honors and AP English
brought about a whole new way of
learning and thinking about literature
and reading. One of our required
readings for tenth grade summer
reading was How to Read Literature
Like a Professor. This was the most important teaching novels of my entire high school English
journey. This novel taught me how to open my eyes to the way that scholarly writers and critics
think about a view pieces of writing. I began unintentionally breaking down everything I read to
find symbols and underlying meanings. Movies, songs, poems, novels; these all were a breeding

Lauren Hinkle
ground for new thoughts and ideas stemming from my own brain. This feeling of gained
knowledge was extremely enlightening and empowering.

Procrastinators unite tomorrow.

I am a procrastinator.
There, I said itfinally. All
through middle school, high
school, and now even
college, I have found myself
to push things off until the
final hours. I know they have done studies on this to disprove my next statement, but I seriously
have come to believe I work best under pressure. In my senior year of high school, I put my
entire Senior Exit product together in one night. Now, Ill have you know, this was no halfway done project. I spent the entire night putting this scrapbook together; it was one of my allnighters when I literally worked until the next morning when I had to get in the shower right then
or I would be late for school. Although I probably shouldnt have saved this until the last minute
due to the fact that the next morning I slept through my entire online class during first period, I
did exceedingly well on the project. When we got our scores back, I was one of a select few that
received fours, (the highest grade possible), in all categories, earning myself a 100% for 25% of
my final English grade. The reason I did so well is because when I do something, for the most
part, I put my whole heart into it, and I put my all into my work, and I never stop until the job is

Lauren Hinkle
done. Working like this earned me a lot of stress, but also the number five rank in my high
school class, and that is something I am very proud of. Looking back, I wouldnt change the way
I work because that is just simply how I work and how I get things done. Lets face it, I am a
sleep deprived teenager with a part-time job, and a full-time school work load; when I have the
opportunity to sleep, I am going to unapologetically take it.

Not Your Average Senior

My junior and
senior years were
compiled of hard classes,
varsity soccer, and a good
mix of extra-curricular
clubs. Lets face it,
everyone expects your
junior year schedule to be
your most difficult
workload of high school, and then your senior year schedule should be something you should try
to bear coming to school every day. My senior year schedule however, was more difficult than
my junior year one. I had more AP classes, and more responsibilities in my clubs and sports, yet
I found it a bit easier than my eleventh grade workload. Now this could be due to the fact that I
had AP U.S. History in eleventh grade, (every high schoolers death wish), or it could be because

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I simply was taught how to balance and manage such a difficult workload in eleventh grade, so
when I was faced with it again the next year, I was more prepared. In my senior year, I found
myself getting better grades and pulling less all-nighters than the year before. Most high school
seniors would be crazy to sign up for a schedule like this in their final year of school, but this is
when I challenged myself most, when I believe it counted the most. Taking these classes truly
was one of the best decisions I have ever made. It taught me perseverance and higher level
thinking, and I believe it truly better prepared me for my college classes.

13th Grade
The hardest part about my senior year was realizing that I wouldnt be able to attend my
dream school that I was accepted to because it was just too expensive. Instead, when I
graduated, while all my friends were getting excited about college, I had to grin and bear the fact
that Id inevitably be attending 13th grade, or as some may call it, community college. Since
$30,000 a year was a bit outrageous for my mom and me, for my first semester of college, I
attended Central Piedmont Community College in order to avoid student debt for at least my first
semester of college, but before the fall semester began, I was already ready to transfer to UNCC,
(my new, and much cheaper college option). Starting at a community college was probably the
smartest decision I had ever made. For the fall semester I didnt have to take out any loans, and I
ended up receiving a big chunk of money back into my pocket from financial aid. Patience and
pride were my two biggest fights. I had to learn to have patience even when things werent the
most fun or exciting, or I didnt feel like I was learning at my full potential. Along with that, I
had to swallow my pride about attending community college. I soon found that the most difficult
question for me to answer was, where are you going to school? My answer was always the

Lauren Hinkle
truth followed quickly by, but Ill be transferring to UNCC in the spring. I felt that there was a
stereotype or a stigma for people at community college, and I feared that people would look at
me differently or not take me seriously if they knew I wasnt going to an actual university.
The biggest thing I learned here was sometimes we are put through temporary seasons in our life
when we are simply travelling on our journey. This temporary season for me was completely
worth it, and even now, my UNCC education is paid for and I even received money back without
taking out loans. I now know that I would be spending my life paying off student debt if I would
have chosen to attend the $30,000/year school, and I am proud of myself for pushing through my
temporary season to reach where I am now.