Age: 18

Grade: 12

Event: Literary Criticism

How long you’ve been competing: Literary Criticism - 4 years; Total UIL Experience - 11 years

What’s the most challenging/nerve-wracking thing about your event: Studying for the Elements of Literature portion of the event. There are 30 questions taken from A Handbook to Literature. What makes it so hard is the amount of information I have to study to be able to answer those questions. The handbook is as thick as a novel and it's like studying a dictionary!

First thing you’ll do when you win: Thank God for His part in everything I do. Then, I'll call everyone on my contacts list to tell them the good news.

Past honors in the event: 2004: District: 2nd Place Individual and 1st Place Team; Region: 5th Place Individual

2005: District: 1st Place Individual and Team; Region: 6th Place Individual

2006: District: 1st Place Individual and Team; Region: 3rd Place Individual; State: 6th Place Individual

2007: District: 1st Place Individual and Team; Region: 3rd Place Individual

Extracurricular activities/other UIL events: Band, , Basketball, Cross Country, Track, FFA, 4-H, Beta Club, One-Act Play, UIL Calculator Applications, UIL Mathematics

College plans: Howard Payne University

Birthplace: Hendrick Medical Center, Abilene, TX

One thing your parents, a sibling or even a best friend might not know about you: I don't really have any interesting tidbits of information that are secret. I want people to know me for who I am, and if I hide myself behind secrets we will never be as close as we could be otherwise.