Q: How do you manage your time? 

A: ¨My typical schedule is, after I get out of school, I do a little bit of homework for like, 15 to 20 minutes, and then I go practice for individual stuff, stuff that’s for worlds. And then most days I have band six to nine, so I leave the gym at 5:30 and then go to band. That’s stuff for future that we do. And then I go home and finish homework.¨

Q: How did you work your way up to being lead twirler for band?

A: ¨My freshman year, I came in and tried out kind of knowing that I wasn’t going to get it because they typically favor an upperclassman. They like you to be on the line and know how things work first. So I was a feature twirler in junior high my seventh and eighth grade year. Then I came and tried out, just because best case I get it and worst case I don’t get it, and I’m okay with either one. So I tried out and I did not get it my freshman year, and I came back my sophomore year and tried that again, but I definitely practiced more the second time around. So the summer of my freshman year, I practiced a lot more.”

Q: What grade were you in when you joined Horseshoe? 

A: ¨I was in junior high yearbook, so I could join as a freshman. I had the option of going straight to Intro to Pub or going straight to Horseshoe, and I chose to come straight to the Horseshoe because I loved the yearbook in junior high. I knew I wanted to do it in high school.¨

Q: Where is your favorite place to travel to? 

A: ¨My favorite place that we traveled to was Kissimmee, Florida. But we went down a few days early, so we got to spend like a week at the beach, and then we drove half an hour to the actual competition site. So then the competition for the week after.¨

Q: What’s the main thing you take photos of? 

A:¨ I enjoy sports the most because they get the most active shots. But I also do some events where there’s not as much action. It’s just kind of presentation. But I really enjoy sports because it’s action, and you never get the same picture.”

Q: How long have you been doing baton 

A: ¨Since I was like two.¨

Q: How did you know you wanted to do baton?
A: When I was in kindergarten they had a bunch of coaches come in and there was a dance coach, gymnastics and baton, and I tried dance and gymnastics and didn’t like them, but I tried baton and loved it because it was just so different and there was always something new.”

Q: Do you have anyone you look up to?
A: ¨I really looked up to my mom because she does so much for me. Since I got on the world team, we’ve had some extra expenses that we have to do because it’s a lot of money. It’s just not feasible because I also have a brother that’s in sports, so it’s not feasible with just one job. But she got an extra job for me, and she takes me everywhere. She’s sacrificed so much for us. And I just really hope to be that kind of mom someday.¨

Q: What do you do in your free time?
A: ¨I do not have free time. My free time consists of doing homework or running sections, running routines, so I don’t really get free time. I don’t like free time.¨

Q: Would you want to go professional in baton?
A: ¨So the worst thing with baton is there’s not really a professional. There are a few stages. There’s field baton, there’s a competition baton. The highest level is being a single feature twirler at college, which I really want to do at Washington or Arkansas as my top two schools right now. But then in the competition world, the highest level is going to the IBTF Worlds and winning there. And obviously that’s the big dream, but I am going to Worlds this year with my duet partner. We hope to place like Top 10ish because it is our first time going to Worlds. But it’s also something we’ve been working on for a while.¨

Q: What college do you want to go to?

A: “I really want to go to Washington University for their feature spot but Mizzou is also a thought for me.”