Well, my name is Kristen. I am a rising senior at a highschool in North Carolina. I absolutely love riding my horse, as well as competing with him on a national level. In 2003, I won a World Championship with a previous horse at the World Championship Paint Horse Show in Fort Worth, Texas. It is most definitely the highlight in my life so far. Hopefully, I will get into the college of my dreams and help my parents find a way to afford it so I can make the most out of what is to come. I still have dreams with my horse and horse shows but God seems to be telling me to put those dreams on hold and focus on what I'm sure is to come: college. My riding future is always so undecided and I must take things as they come which is good and bad, but it always leaves time to pick it up where you left off, unlike my education.
These 17 (nearly 18) years of my life have always been filled with questions and twists and turns. Coming from a dysfunctional family, I've had to grow and mature from an early age. I remember sitting upstairs hearing my parents argue about the money straining their relationship and threatening our way of living. I remember wondering if our house would be foreclosed. I remember when our car got taken away. I remember when I was worried out of my mind wondering if the thing I love most, my horse, would have to be taken from me. And although these times were rough, they forced me to learn and they forced me to connect with my parents on a level that very few other children are capable of. But through all of this, I am thankful for the millions of lessons I have learned, whether my parents knew they had a part in them or not.
And now it is time for me to take these lessons and build upon them yet again. And this time, it is to construct a bridge that will take me on a journey of my own. God is telling me that the time is now. I need to make a future for myself, and that is exactly what I intend to do.
Love to all, and God Bless.