June-July 1999 The Sabbath Sentinel

BSA Scholarship Third Place Runner Up

by Nicole Marie Ostrom

Like the majority of high school seniors on the verge of turning 18, I feel like I've been in school my entire life. This makes sense, considering I can't remember anything that happened before I turned 5, and that was when I started school. Now, I'm finally face to face with the opportunity to be free. I'm graduating and will no longer be bounds to imprisoning ties of our educational system. But, only one step away from freedom, I've decided to step up to a higher level of education and to continue learning. As I near the end of my high school career I realize more and more how important school and my education truly are to me.

My name is Nicole Ostrom. I am the middle child in a family in a family of five. My older sister attends the University of Kansas In Lawrence and my younger sister is a freshman in high school. My father is a carpenter and my mother is a graphic artist. Both attended the University of Minnesota, Duluth.

I am a distance runner and have been captain of the University Cross Country and Track teams for two years. I am currently ranked in the top 5% of my senior class and will be graduating with 12 hours of college credit earned in high school. I was appointed President of the Leaders of Tomorrow Club for my church youth group last year and am now acting as Senior Advisor. I participate in Youth Friends, am a member of National Honors Society, Spanish National Honors Society, and Spanish Club. I was named Who's Who Among American High School students and All American Scholar.

Participating in Varsity athletics for the past three years have helped to strengthen the foundation of my religious beliefs. I miss more than half the track meets and am only able to run in about three cross country meets a year because of the Sabbath. Because I work at it and train hard, I am able to run Varsity regardless. My coach accepts my religion and respects me for keeping the Sabbath, even though he doesn't agree with it. Keeping the Sabbath isn't easy, but the challenges I've encountered for doing something different from the rest of the world has given me character and made me stronger. Maintaining my belief and practice of the Sabbath while attending college will definitely be a challenge, but one that I am up to and well prepared for.

I will be attending St. Louis University next year to pursue a degree in Physical Therapy. I hope that my education will benefit all of the patients that I have the opportunity to work with, as well as many of the people I come in contact with, from my immediate family to strangers on the street. I believe a better world can arise with a happier and more positive attitude from the people in our population. Happiness is just as contagious as a bad attitude, but would make our world a much better place to live in.

TSS

June - July 1999 The Sabbath Sentinel