KInsey Amanda Eborn

On the same day that JT and Amber were being married in the Bountiful Utah Temple. our eldest granddaughter was graduating from Murray High School.  We were overjoyed to be at the wedding, but we also would have liked to have been there when Kinsey graduated from high school.  She has a birthday this week and will be eighteen years old.  It seems impossible that our grand kids are reaching the age where they are  experiencing these important milestones in their lives.  Kinsey has been a joy to us over the years and we love her very much.  We are happy that she has chosen to attend  Utah State University this fall.  She has promised to visit us often.  We are looking forward to these visits and hope they are frequent.   She was very understanding of us missing her graduation and understands that sometimes we have to make choices and set priorities.   As much as we would have liked to be in two places at once, we just haven't quite figured out how to do it.

Kinsey has been a very active teenager.  Of her own free will, she has chosen to be involved in many good causes.  She is an outstanding example of what a young woman can and should do with her  life thus far.  She has been a great student.  She has traveled the world, well maybe not all of it, but she has been to Europe and served a youth service mission in South America, Brazil to be exact.  She has been active on the Murray High debate team and has won several awards  for her work in this field. She has been active in sports while in high school where she participated on the school track and tennis teams.  She excelled enough to go to state in track (no small achievement in the big 5A schools).  She was in the Miss Murray Pageant a few months ago and though she didn't quite win she did herself proud and was chosen as one of the runners up.  She has been active in the Church and has a very strong testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  She just quietly goes about living her life as the Savior would want her too.  She is kind and loving to others.  She has helped us on a regular basis by doing  proxy temple work two or three times every month.  We have tried to supply her with family names and she has done much of the work herself and has included some of her friends in these special spiritual experiences.

Recently she was nominated by her peers and honored as  an All Around High School Student.  As a part of this she had to pick three areas of interest and write a paragraph about her involvement in these issues.  She could have done just as well on all of the other topics as well.  I have included her responses in this blog.  They were down loaded from the Internet, where I found them.  Kinsey is very modest and does not choose to boast about her success and qualities.  That being said, maybe  as her grandparents we can show our love and pride by this little post.

Kinsey Amanda has a birthday this week,  June 14th to be exact (easily remembered because it is Flag Day).  Happy birthday, Kinsey, and may you have many more to come. We love you very much.

Kinsey Eborn

12th Grade, UT  Murray High School, Murray, Utah

Government

I clamor to influence progress in world affairs. As presidency captain, I lead my schools debate team through encouragement, experience, and merit. I've qualified for and competed at nationals for student forensics, and am ranked top 10 in state. I'm state champion and national representative for advanced public speaking and impromptu through FBLA. I head Murray's Project Citizen, and work to raise cultural awareness. I assist novice debaters each Thursday after school through researching domestic/foreign affairs, fun activities, and mock trial debates. I took AP US History to assimilate the political history of America, receiving a 5 on the 2011 AP test. I intern for US History teachers at Murray High. I'm studying AP Government and AP Human Geography and intend to pass those tests in May.

Community Service

I mentor a young woman with mental and physical disabilities each Thursday evening, teaching self-preservation and confidence skills, serving over 100 hrs yearly. I created the Young Picasso Art clinic for children in my community to teach art basics. I organized a 5k run to raise awareness for the dangers of cyber-bullying and had several hundred participants/runners attend. I organized/hosted a benefit to collect canned food items for the Philippines and donated over 700 pounds of canned food. I represented Murray City and raised over $100 for the Children's Miracle Network. I dressed as a princess for the Make a Wish princess tea party and played with terminally ill children. I'm a member of my schools Interact club. I was blessed to go to Niteroi, Brazil for 3 weeks and rebuild homes.

Faith

"I believe," isn't just a phrase to me, but a guideline. I'm blessed to be a part of a strong Christian church organization, and attend church meetings 2-3 times a week. I lead my church young women's group through presidency and have been doing so for the past five years. I've been YCL (Youth Camp Leader) for the past 2 years, where I educate young women at camp. I have been in seminary leadership for 4 years. I attend annual youth camps, daily scripture study courses, and served a church service mission to Niteroi, Brazil. I also worship and serve twice a month at our temple. Having the light of God is more than going to prayer meeting. It is showing compassion, love, and understanding for those of all denominations. I strive to be an uplifting example of faith in my Savior in all ways.

Below are some pictures of Kinsey and some of her many worthwhile activities.

Kinsey sponsored a run/walk to increase awareness of cyber-bulling. This is something we never even dreamed about  when we were young.  She not only dreams, but she  goes to work and tries to make the world a better place.

Here we see Kinsey helping to build a home for a disadvantaged family in Brazil.  She saw a lot of great things on the trip, but her real reason for going was to make a difference and leave the world/Brazil a better place.

This is Kinsey with her "special friend" at one of the school dances.  Kinsey is all about helping other to be happy and to feel a sense of their  self worth.  She knows who they are ( I mean who they really are) and tries to treat them as such.