Looking good in that burnt orange T-shirt, Kalyn! University of Texas, here she comes!

She finally decided!

And if you know Kalyn Marie Bednarz, she hates making decisions. Even something as simple as deciding what to eat take eons of time in a a drive through. UGH! Cars honk, crickets start chirping, businesses close. Yes. It takes this girl FOREVER. So, when we started deciding where to apply to colleges back in the fall, it was many discussions and arguments, and opinions weighed. Talks and talks and talks. I sort of decided for her, as to which ones to apply to. I mean, Devin and I wanted her to go "off to college". Not that Texas Tech is not a good school. I'm sure it is. I've photographed many alumni from that school and have many friends that went there. I like many Red Raiders. NO HATE COMMENTS PLEASE.

But we wanted her to have the expeirence of going off the college and being on her own. Instead of "just across town". At least I think I want that for her? YIPES. As it gets closer, it gets scary. Very scary. But it also gets very exciting! I can't go into much detail here, but Kalyn Marie may be fierce on the court, the field, the classroom, but when it comes to being "on her own", she's got a bit of anxiety deep inside. I think she was in the double digits before she could even spend the night away from home. Thank you Cyndy Hobson for helping make that happen.

Part of the anxiety was just how she was created by God. He made her that way. The other part? Anxiety from very clearly remembering my car wreck and the aftermath afterwards. She suffered and it hurt to watch her go through that. But we did GO THROUGH THAT and she's stronger and better for it. That's how I know she will do just fine down in Austin. Just fine, indeed.

The process of the decision? Well, she applied to 5 schools.

• Notre Dame, which was more of my decision than hers. I wanted her to apply to a Catholic School and since she wanted a BIG school with a football team, that left only one in the running.
• Yale HELLO! Anyone ever heard of Gillmore Girls? We love that show and watched it all the time. Have the DVD set even. Yale seemed cool, prestigious. Kalyn even had a guy from Yale come interview her after receiving her application. That pumped her up! The fella was impressed and gave us lots of good information and answered many of Kalyn's questions about college and life after high school.
• University of Texas, after a visit this summer, it was high on her list of Texas schools. We have family there, it's a quick trip on SW AIR and HELLO! It's Austin! Liberal, yes, but also pretty darn cool and fun to visit. Plus, she loved the campus and visited with several students there and they just felt right.
• TCU, lovely school. Really it is. And definitely made her feel very welcome. Of all the schools, they were the MOST impressive when letting her know she was accepted. Fantastic welcome packet! Just overall, to Kalyn, didn't feel like home. Or a place she could see herself at. But the idea of being close to family in Dallas was definitely a plus.
• A + M, GREAT TOUR! Fun place for sure. Not very impressed with campus, but hey, they had a visualization studio that knocked her socks off. And a professor visited with her for over an hour. I think if she could have gotten into their visualization program, she may have been swayed. Competition was stiff. They only chose 75 total for the major. And she honestly didn't love the campus as much as she loved UT. Plus that thing about leaving the conference? Yeah. Dad wasn't cheering for that school.

3 came calling. She was accepted into 3. Kalyn is in the top 10% of her class. It's automatic at a State University when you graduated in the top 10%.

• UT
• TCU
• A + M

TCU even offered an impressive scholarship, however, when Kalyn finally nailed down something she wanted to study, ONE schools stood out in that field. You see, Kalyn is a most excellent writer. MOST EXCELLENT story teller. She's wonderful at it really and I always thought she would go into the writing field in some capacity. However, she hates being timed to write, so journalism or creative writing classes would be simply awful to her spirit. She needed something more than just alone writing time. And being timed at it would break her. Make her hate school. And that's something no one wants. To hate something being far away from loved ones. And having to pay for it to boot. HELLO! I remember accounting classes back when I thought I would be an accountant. HA!

The recruiter for Yale honestly thought she would get into Notre Dame and I think she probably would have as well, if her ACT's had been higher. I mean come on! This girl is one of the smartest girls I know, but because of that "timed test thing"? STRESSES and doesn't test very well. If her ACT had been a point or 2 higher, she would have gotten in. I'm sure. But then what to study? Art History was in the running but she wasn't completely sure. So, when Notre Dame said "No, we don't want you", she had some thinking to do. The recruiter for Yale also shared with her to study what you love. Don't worry about the job that major has, just study what you love. If you study what you love, you will do good and hopefully, the job will follow. I LOVED that advice! It's so important to do what you love.

Now I don't mean, everyone loves their job. That's not it. But if she studies what she loves, she will make good grades and school won't be a chore or a burden. It will be an exciting learning experience! I remember how I felt in the classes I loved! I rarely skipped and those were some of my only A's in school. His advice? Good for life. So, even if your job sucks, which many do, it's feeding your family and I bet during your free time, you squeeze in as much as you can of doing what you love. Right?

So, University of Texas it is! And as of now? Television and Film is her major. Or is it communications? I can't even remember. I just know, Kalyn would love to work with others on a creative project that would leave an impact somewhere in this world. TV, Film, Books, etc. And so she'll dive into some of those classes and see if she truly loves them. I'm kind of thinking she will.

Go Kalyn! Be an AWESOME LONGHORN!!!!

and keep rocking that burnt orange. Looks great on you!!!! http://www.tshirtbox.co.uk/t-shirt-printing-uk