15 Highlights from 2015

I cannot believe that 2015 is officially coming to a close! What a great and exciting year it's been for my family. Here are my 15 highlights from 2015!

Events are listed in (approximately) chronological order. Please enjoy!

1. DECA CDC (State Conference at the Broadmoor) - February

I attended the Colorado DECA State Career Development Conference (CDC), hosted at the Broadmoor, for my first time this year. I competed in the event "Principles of Business Management and Administration" and qualified for finals! I did not immediately qualify for the national conference but was able to attend and compete in Orlando as an alternate!

2. DECA ICDC (International Conference in Orlando, Florida) - April

I was able to travel to Orlando, Florida to compete in the DECA International Career Development Conference (ICDC). This trip was amazing! It was a small trip, with four students (the fourth one flew out later) and one sponsor. We spent one day at Universal Studios and two days at Disney World before competing the next day. I earned a test score of 80 (my best cluster exam score) at the international conference

3. Competing in the 2015 Crossfit Open - February and March

With the encouragement of my parents, I decided to compete in the 2015 Crossfit Open in the Teen Division. It was a crazy and fun experience, and I'm very glad I did it. The Open exposed my strengths (handstand push ups and cleans) and weaknesses (thrusters) in Crossfit and taught me a lot about myself!

Link to the 2015 Crossfit Open workouts is here! My personal favorite workout was week four!

4. Golf - March, April, and May

I had another good season as a member of the HRHS Golf Team! This year, I played in my first Regional tournament and barely missed the cut for state. So, that's my goal for 2016! I also had the chance to play some nice courses (see point 10 below) and improved my golf game.

Regional Competition with my coach! Photos captured by my mom!

5. Holding my first official job as a caddie! - March to September

I applied for my first job this summer and went through the training process, ending successfully in my first job at Cherry Hills Country Club! I caddied 40 rounds over the summer and even "double looped" (two rounds in a day) twice. Caddying at CHCC offers many benefits, including connections with members and the opportunity to play the course on Monday afternoons. I took advantage of this as much as possible, and played the end-of-season Caddie tournament to close out the year! And, I got to be my dad's caddie when he played, so that was pretty awesome! I'm looking forward to caddying again next summer for sure!

6. Prom 2015 - April

After spending months planning Prom with my Junior Senate class, the event was very successful! We had over 600 attendees and a fun night for my group!

7.  Ecuador - June

I was lucky enough to travel to Ecuador over the summer with a group from my school! Entonces, voy a escribir esa pieza en español. Recordaré las experiencias de la viaje para siempre. Cuando estábamos en Ecuador, pasamos tiempo en las ciudades de Quito y Guayaquil, y también en las montañas Andes para un proyecto de servicio en la comunidad de Shuid. Un parte muy divertido del viaje era el tiempo en las islas Galápagos. A mi me gustan muchos las tortugas grandes y los lobos. Quiero ir de nuevo cuando tengo mas años.

Okay, translation: I will write this piece in Spanish! I will remember the experiences from this trip forever. When we were in Ecuador, we spent time in the cities of Quito and Guayaquil, and also in the Andes Mountains for a service project in the community of Shuid. A very fun part of the trip was the time we spent in the Galápagos Islands. I really liked the giant tortoises and the sea lions! I want to go again when I am older.

Cotopaxi Volcano

Benched Sea Lion in the Galapagos Islands 

Service Project (Community Kitchen) - We did the cement!

Giant Tortoise

Underwater sea lion!

Guayaquil 

Iguana or Pigeon?

8. One Republic - July

When One Republic decided to host a small show in Lone Tree, my younger brother Nick scored some tickets! Thanks to his kindness, I was able to attend the show. As always, they were amazing!

9. Homecoming 2015 - September

After spending months planning Homecoming with my Senior Senate class (including lots of time spent over the summer), it turned out great! We had nearly 800 attendees and had an enjoyable night as a group.

10. Denver Rescue Mission - All Year!

I deepened my involvement with the Denver Rescue Mission this year by volunteering with them five times (March, July, and three times in November). I love volunteering with them because I feel like I'm making a difference in the world. One of my favorite parts, though, was sharing these experiences with National Honor Society members and my family!

Brought my mom and younger brother to volunteer at the Denver Rescue Mission over the summer. Made some people happy and grew as a person myself! 

Volunteering with NHS members the day before Thanksgiving was an experience I'll remember forever.

NHS service day with my amazing mom as a chaperone!

11. Out of the Darkness Walk - October

I volunteered at the Out of the Darkness Walk again this October. With its expansion, the Out of the Darkness Walk moved to Coors Field. The number of suicide prevention supporters was outstanding, and the event was, once again, a great experience!

12. Oahu - October

Mom and Dad took us to Oahu for my final spring break as a high school-er! We had so much fun! I learned how to Stand Up Paddle, snorkel in rough waters (or at least get out to the calm waters), and eat "conveyor belt sushi!" My favorite memory from the trip was seeing a Hawaiian Monk Seal at Turtle Bay. I posted that video on my blog post while we were in Hawaii, so click here to see that!

We stayed at the Ko Olina Beach Resort in Oahu. This was a view from our walk to one of the neighboring lagoons.

SUP'ing in the Disney Aulani Lagoon! Mom was upset because she had to wear a life vest to learn how to SUP.

The Last Sunset

13. Twenty One Pilots - December

Best. Concert. Ever. Need I say more? These guys can put on a show! 
P.S. Check out their cover of "Can't Help Falling in Love" on YouTube... A personal favorite.

14. DECA State Qualifier and Top Test Scorer - December

I am competing in the "Financial Consulting Event" for the 2015-16 DECA season. I qualified for the State Conference again and am preparing to rock it in February!

I am also competing in the "School Based Enterprise Re-Certification" event for DECA this year. Assuming all goes well, this should guarantee me a bid to ICDC, even if my other event does not.

15. Being accepted to college! - November and December (one more coming soon!)

I recently posted about my college bouts here, but as a general summary I applied to four schools and a major scholarship, heard back from three schools and the scholarship by the end of the year, and committed to CU-Boulder this December. I'm very excited about my next steps as a student in the Leeds School of Business and the Leeds Scholars Program at CU-Boulder!