Wednesday, December 23, 2015

The Journey Begins Again: Miss Wooded Hills 2016

Normally pageant preparation is a thing that I spend a good bit of time on. That's not a luxury I ended up having as I pulled things together for the Miss Leavenworth/Miss Wooded Hills competition just a few weeks ago.

I made the decision to compete on the Tuesday prior to the competition on the immediately following Saturday because I found out a contestant had dropped out and frankly, they needed numbers in order to award two titles. I wasn't initially planning on competing because it was the weekend right before exams began. But I figured...hey, why not. I can pull something together, if only to just get another good experience in.

With my schedule already booked with class or work till 9:30pm every night that week, I decided not to paint for talent with that short time frame. I borrowed a one piece swimsuit, I wore an $18 gown from Plato's Closet for my evening gown, and I sang a Christmas tune for my talent piece.

I truly was not expecting to clench a title with the lack of my normal preparation and not my usual menagerie of competition pieces. To my surprise, I was announced Miss Wooded Hills 2016 which would secure a place for me in the 2016 Miss Kansas competition in June of this coming year.

Annika Wooton, Miss Kansas, Miss Wooded Hills
So my journey to Miss Kansas was jumpstarted earlier than I expected, but I could not be more pleased. I am now blessed with a wonderful board of directors, some incredible sponsors, and the one and only Jennifer Salva as my sister queen and Quinn Stratton as our Tri City Teen.

Wheels are already turning on how to improve and deliver this year. Even though I sang at the local competition, speed painting is definitely going to be back on the Miss Kansas stage. I am working with an incredible team of people to develop a new and improved easel and performance for yet another facet of speed painting that I am working hard to execute in the best way possible.

Keep up with my journey, painting progress, and community involvement on my Facebook page, the Miss Leavenworth/Miss Wooded Hills Facebook page, or my Instagram.

- Annika Wooton
Newly Crowned Miss Wooded Hills 2016

Thursday, September 3, 2015

#whatwillshepaint

Miss America is in just over a week and I could not be more excited. We, in Pageantville, like to say that this is essentially the "Superbowl of pageants". So tune in to ABC on the 13th to see who will win America's heart and represent our great organization for a year of incredible service.

This coming up got me thinking (more than usual) about my upcoming future in competition for this year. I use the hashtag "#whatwillshepaint" in a lot of my posts as I share teasers about my painting preparation for each competition or event. The suspense is half the fun whether it's following the journey of creation pre-pageant or watching the 90 second performance live.

I often get asked, "Oh do you just make it up when you are up there or do you know what you are going to paint beforehand?" So far - I have not had an entirely spontaneous subject matter in a live performance. There have been elements I have added in on a whim because I realize I have more time in competition mode or I have come up with the direction of the image as I work with it over the course of a longer event, but I always have an idea prior to the brush hitting the canvas.

Contrary to popular belief, picking a subject matter is much more intense than you might think! I take into consideration a myriad of things: who is my audience; what is the age range; relevancy; who are the judges; can it be done in 90 seconds; will it clash with a large portion of the audience (Jayhawks vs. Wildcats); does it represent myself or my platform or my state; is it possible on the easels that I currently have built or am building; can it be done in less than 4 colors; how many different size brushes will it require; can I find good music to back it; is it campy or classy; will I enjoy painting it a million times in practice; will it be iconic or impactful?

...and that's just a start of the questions I mill over when going about this part of the process.

Annika Wooton, Miss Kansas, Miss Wooded Hills


And the answers are different every time I revisit them. It depends on the time of year, locals vs. states, or what I'm interested in at the moment. I painted Batman in February at Miss Greater Wichita and a member of our Armed Forces saluting at Miss Kansas in June. I consider both successful.

For instance, the February competition was a tough one to come up with. I started down the path thinking of seasonal icons - a snowy cabin, cupid, Valentine's Day anything... and I was just not excited about any of it even though I was fleshing out the ideas fairly thoroughly. Finally, I think I said to someone, "I wish I could just paint Batman," or something along those lines and they said, "ANNIKA. PAINT BATMAN." Like, "Duh! There's your answer right there!"

Thus, the spark was ignited.

Annika Wooton, Miss Kansas, Miss Wooded Hills


The image I painted of Batman evolved extensively over the month that I had to develop it. The revising and rehearsal paid off when I was awarded the highest score in the Talent division for the night. I tell you truly, to date, that is the most exhilarating and meaningful nomination I have received. (Unconventional talents just don't go over well sometimes, and it's so reassuring to have an incredibly esteemed panel deem my Batman painting that kind of status.)

If you go back and read either of the previous posts about the entire preparation process for the state competition this year, I explained the genesis of that subject matter and how it came to fruition.

So now you may be wondering to yourself (or not...), "What will she paint this year?"

WELL, let me tell you --- I'm not going to tell you ;)

Stay tuned and follow me on Instagram for hints and updates as I prepare to compete on November 1st a the Miss Kingman County competition.

Until then,
Annika

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

The New Rig: Now what do I paint? [Part 2]

If you read the previous post, then you get the idea of how this thing was made and maybe even how it functions. I was told it was kind of like a magic trick when I released the panels onstage.

Last year about this time, I posted a blog about how I came to the final image that I presented at the 2014 Miss Kansas pageant - a portrait of Theresa Vail. So here is what's looking to be that yearly post about how I developed the image that I presented onstage last Thursday and Saturday nights.

Like I said in the other post, it all really started coming to fruition when my dad and I were sitting in the Hard Rock Cafe right off of Times Square waiting for food. We thought about another Batman... we thought about Starwars, or a Jayhawk, or a celebrity portrait... but nothing really clicked because maybe the judges like a different super hero, or maybe they are Trekkies, or maybe (god forbid) they are Wildcats.

So we agreed on a patriotic theme. From here we thought of a bald eagle, the statue of liberty, a flag, recreations of already iconic art pieces, and a soldier. The soldier idea really stuck around...but I wasn't going to be sold on it until we found the right music. Anyone who saw my Batman speed painting at Miss Greater Wichita knows that it was accompanied by Hans Zimmer music and after painting to that kind of energizing music, I couldn't relinquish my background track to a soft country song about the red, white and blue... it had to display the same feelings bravery and heroism that I wanted to portray in my painting of the soldier.

Annika Wooton, speed painter
Annika Wooton, speed painter
(Please forgive the wrong sided salute... and wrong sided everything... I fixed it eventually.)














Dad thought about looking through some of the music from Captain America and the Avengers, and sure enough - the song literally titled, "The Avengers," was two minutes long full of building anticipation with the patriotic element built right in.

I don't have all of the sketches that I went through for this part, but I'll give you a bit of an idea...

Annika Wooton, speed painterI talked to some friends of mine in the Navy and Army, namely Joshua Shope and Sergeant Theresa Vail, asking how I could best represent a soldier, how to do it respectfully, and most importantly maybe - how to do it right in the fewest amount of brush strokes. Shope sat down with me for a while one day as we browsed uniforms and rankings on the internet, trying to figure out what kind of soldier to represent and how to make it a readable image for a  majority civilian audience.

My final sketch included a marking on the hat as well as some medals on the breast. We decided that though this wasn't a distinct version of any specific uniform, it would read correctly as a soldier and had enough visual cues to make a complete image.

Annika Wooton, speed painter
As the weeks went by and the progress on the easel continues, sketches began popping up in the margins of my notes, on napkins, and in my sketchbooks. I had to decide how many colors I wanted to use, which colors those would be, would it be realistic or stylized, should it have natural skin tones or red, white and blue, do I do eyes or no eyes, what kind of hat? So many questions filtered through as I maneuvered through different sketches.

Once I had finally mapped out a full preliminary painted sketch that I was happy with, it was time to start making it happen on a grander scale - the easel.



I presented a live painting demo to one of my art classes for the final project and they suggested a pretty brilliant idea for practicing over and over again - paint on a chalkboard surface. Following their advice,  I had a few different sets of panels to practice with, one of which was primed as a chalk board surface. Utilizing that method, I was able to chalk out tracing lines for rehearsals and paint in water, which stayed dark enough on the surface in 90 seconds for me to realize the image, take note, and make adjustments before drying it off and doing another run.

Annika Wooton, speed painter



As I went through cycles of the chalkboard runs as well as ones with real paint, I continued to make adjustments. You can see in this progression photo that it started in black and white, moved to blue and white, and then the final painting on the right was done in several minutes as a mini mock-up, but is when I decided to add in red.

Annika Wooton, speed painter



The first black one was too severe, then the blue and white one looked like a blue print, so the red was added anticipating to use it as a mid tone accent color. You can also see which details started to be unnecessary to portray the image and how it gradually got cropped closer and closer. The chalk board idea was really helpful in committing the muscle memory of it all to memory and being able to work through kinks without having to re-prime the panels every time. Using real paint is certainly a time consuming ordeal - priming the panels, waiting for it to dry, doing the 90 second painting, waiting for it to dry, and then starting it all over again (in heels, of course). All in all, I want to say that I only did the full painting in real paint (successfully) as I ended up performing it onstage maybe two or three times at home...



Annika Wooton, speed painter

Once I got to Miss Kansas, a new set of problems came up. While many of the women can practice in their rooms if they are singers or instrumentalists or dancers, it is pretty difficult for me to practice my painting in the dorm rooms that we stay in. So during down time between rehearsals once we were in the arena, I went over and did some "dry runs" with the easel and panels (dry runs are just miming the actions with no paint or medium on the brushes...like marking a dance on the floor). 

Among the first times I did this, for the first time ever in this process, the first two panels fell at the same time when I released the pin. The force of the fall caused themselves to wedge inexplicably tight between the catch piece and the back of the easel. Jerry, who runs all things backstage, tried to help me weasel them out to no avail. We literally had to break that catch piece to get them out and set it to glue overnight. Needless to say, I was terrified. 

For talent performance, we get two run-throughs onstage with the music and that's it before the actual competition. During the first one, the same thing happened but with the latter two panels. This didn't cause the easel to malfunction like that first time and I mended it within the performance, but it was not how it was supposed to work. The second run, the panels still didn't fall correctly but that was entirely my fault - I pulled the pins in the wrong order. So at this point - I had not done this thing successfully at all in about a week and I was competing with it in just a few hours. Once again, I was terrified. 

The sun descended in the sky and the competition was underway. After intermission, I slipped on my headphones and put on my "Miss K Pump Up Playlist" of motivating songs accumulated from friends and started to get in the zone. My paints were prepped. I'd tested the panels. All that was left to do was to deliver...

The music started and my brushes went flying and WHAM! The first panel fell without a hitch! The crowd erupted! Second panel - WHOOSH! Seamless. Third panel - SMACK! And I tilted the easel up to present it to the audience as I mimicked my painted soldier with a crisp salute and a bow. I did it. 

I had one more chance Saturday night as my name was called in the Top Ten to present the unique talent of speed painting to the Miss Kansas judges and audience. And again, it worked when it needed to. Not only that, but I actually had extra time and decided on a whim to add in some red and white stripes. You can see a video of the final performance here.

As I enter my second year as "the speed painter", I can say that live painting has given me a thrill like no other I have ever experienced. With just 90 seconds to present your best talent to a panel of judges who may or may not know anything about art, I am certainly taking a risk in whipping up some live art to dish out to this community. I want to thank everyone who has been so supportive of my work, those who helped me progress and build my ideas and help this all come to life, those who keep telling me to never give up, and those who invite me to your events and organizations to further share the gift of art.


Most of all, I want to thank those who serve and give themselves to our country in the armed forces. That's what this painting was all about. Thank you for allowing me the freedom to pursue my dreams and travel our great state to promote something I am passionate in. Thank you for giving your minds, bodies, and time away from your own homes and families so that mine may be safe. Thank you for your service to our country in every capacity that you give.

Stay tuned to see whatever crazy idea I bring to the table next year that I think can top this performance. Follow me on Facebook or Instagram and message me if you would like live painting at your next event!

Annika Wooton, speed painter

- Annika Wooton
Miss Greater Wichita
Top Ten



Tuesday, June 9, 2015

The New Rig: From the drawing board to the shop [Part 1]

Miss Kansas is over for this year and I am back home trying to figure out where to put this massive easel rig of mine.

Many of you who were following my journey throughout the year and especially this week have seen pictures and video footage of the final performance. However, I thought I might let you in on the genesis of this whole idea and how the whole idea was formed...

It all started in New York City...


My dad and I spent a few days in NYC over spring break - mostly to spend time together in the Big Apple, but also with the mindset to come up with something stellar to present at Miss Kansas. We went to the MoMA as well as the Society of Illustrators museum in hopes of coming up with a grand idea.

It was when we were sitting in the Hard Rock Cafe just off Times Square when we broke out the pen and paper to really put down some concrete ideas.

Earlier in the year, I had posted on Facebook asking people what they wanted to see in a live painting. I was actually asking for subject matter ideas...but the people wanted multiple canvases. So for the upcoming performance at the time for KU's Got Talent, I embarked on the adventure to paint on three canvases.

So as we were brainstorming for the Miss Kansas pageant, the idea hung in our heads of how to manipulate the use of multiple canvases or panels without separate easels for each one. We toyed with the idea of painting on glass, or painting in glue with glitter thrown at the end, or simply doing the same rig I had last year. But of course that was really out of the question.

At some point in the brainstorm process at Hard Rock, we decided upon a patriotic theme with a tri-panel approach. (Forgive the salute with the wrong hand... I was ignorant to details at this point.) I don't have pictures of all my sketches, as they were on the back of a placemat and got lost at some point, but take a look at the very first visualizations of this crazy idea:

 What you see here, and will realize later on as you scroll through pictures of the real deal, is that even though my dad and I had NO idea how this thing would actually work, we had a pretty solid concept to start with that ended up being eerily accurate to the final product.


 

I returned to Kansas, not entirely sure how I was going to pull this off. I approached the man who runs the Common Shop in the art building, Cotter. I explained the whole idea to him in a long winded monologue and when I finished, he looks at me and says, "Okay... what's this for....?" And I said, "Well, I'm using it as my final for this one studio course I'm in but...end-game... I'm competing to be Miss Kansas..."

Okay PAUSE. Let's note that I was meeting with him between having an 8 am studio and about to go to the gym, so I was definitely nottttt up to pageant-par. 


So Cotter looks at me and says, "Yeah you sure look like it," in jest, of course. And then looks back down at the sketches and says, "We're gonna win this." Not only did I just attain an incredible mind to help me engineer this easel, but he proceeded to tell me how he lived down the street from Debbie Barnes, one of our Miss Kansas's who proceeded to win Miss America and how she babysat him as a child. Who knew!!

And the building process began.

I made a moquette out of cardstock paper to create a visual 3-D representation of what we wanted to happen. Following that display, I used a large sheet of foam core to develop the dimensions I wanted, the height, and make sure it would fit in the back of my Prius before we started building the actual thing.

I have to give all the credit to Cotter for materializing this rig and coming up with the engineering genius. Each panel is sustained on a separate track. There are three holes at the top of each panel that function with three individual pegs at different heights that are inserted from the back.

Each pin is pulled to release each panel at an isolated moment with a nib that catches the panel at the bottom so that it doesn't fall forward. The video to the left is the first time I saw it work. Apparently the first time Cotter released the first panel on our prototype version, the entire bottom edge blew off from the force, which is why you can see that is it reinforced in the version in the video.

I came in every day after my morning studio course to trouble shoot and bounce around ideas with Cotter. After seeing how this first version worked, we decided to elongate the entire surface so that the last panel drop wasn't so whimpy - and added a few more inches for it to fall in the final version.






The entire thing is assembled with only four pieces and two screws excluding the three panels and fits in the back of a Prius. This made things wonderfully simple as I transferred the rig to my house, back to the art building, back to my house, and then finally to Pratt for the competition.

I'll post another blog about the actual painting process... this is getting lengthy!

- Annika Wooton
Miss Greater Wichita


Monday, May 18, 2015

The 12 Days of Pageant Prep

So I looked down at my planner today and saw a daunting number scribbled at the top corner of today's block... 12. There are twelve more days until I head out to Pratt, Kansas for the Miss Kansas competition.

That's insane!

Sometimes I feel like it was just last weekend that I was crowned Miss Greater Wichita and then other times I feel like it's been eternity. I sat down this weekend and tabulated all of the places I've traveled as Miss Greater Wichita since February and figured out that I have traveled almost 5,000 miles from my home in Lawrence to various volunteer events, sponsor visits, promoting my platform as well as the Miss America Organization, and doing speed painting performances for events and organizations. I just kept truckin' along and didn't really realize how much I've traveled this semester.



As far as things go, I realize I haven't posted in a really long time. I finished out the spring semester of my Junior year at the University of Kansas successfully. I have officially decided to add a double major - previously I was only an Art Education major and now I have added on Illustration which I have been enjoying tremendously. It's been a TON of work but it is work that I enjoy and I have been able to translate into my speed painting as well.

Speaking of speed painting -- you can be sure that you will be seeing something new and thrilling on the Miss Kansas stage this year coming from me in the talent department. Cool story -- I went down into the Common Shop (the wood shop at the Art and Design building at KU), and started talking with Cotter (the man who runs the place) about my ideas and tentative design for this new easel that my dad and I had come up with over spring break. I wasn't even sure it was possible to make this thing, so after my explanation, Cotter asks, "Okay...so what is this for...?" And I say, "Well you know, I'm using it for a final project in this one class, but... end-game... I'm competing to be Miss Kansas." Of course I'm dressed half for studio work for my 8am and half about to go to the gym and he says, "Yeah you look like it," in jest. BUT then he proceeds to tell me how he grew up down the street from Debbie Barnes, one of our Miss Kansas's who went on to win Miss America and how she babysat him and about the banner that hung over Moran, Kansas saying, "Home of Miss America," for probably a decade.

How cool is that!?

Annika Wooton, Miss Greater Wichita


So I have been working closely with him to bring to life an idea that was spawned in New York City with my father. If you keep up with me on social media, I post teasers here and there about my process and you can catch vague glimpses of a corner of the painting or the easel contraption. You can follow me on Instagram @annikanskywoker or my Facebook.

In 12 days I will be able to say I am entirely prepared and packed and ready for Miss Kansas 2015! Right now, I cannot say that. Mostly because this painting process is such a unique one and these 12 days are vital.

(Side note -- there will not be a webcast or telecast of the Miss Kansas competition this year... it's a bummer for everyone out of town, but I'm ordering a DVD that I will gladly share with you later!)

Wish me luck, keep up with me on social media, and I'll catch you later!

Annika Wooton
Miss Greater Wichita

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Arts Advocacy

There has never been a society without the arts. Everything that builds our community is somehow dependent upon an element of the arts. The seat you are sitting in, the font you are reading right now, the street signs that direct you across your city each day – an artist had a hand in each one of these. Artists are a necessary element of our society and a piece of the puzzle that makes our developing culture functional and also pleasant to view and operate in.
Art Education is pertinent to our youth to round out their ability to develop social and intellectual interaction. Within the bubble of what is defined as “the arts”, students have opportunities to grow in the areas of discipline, teamwork, attention to detail, creativity, resilience, time management, and building a growing and supporting community based around a common passion, among other things. Just as the quality of an effective teacher is their capacity for growth, the arts instill a lifelong engagement and yearning for knowledge, involvement, and progression.
The arts provide a distinct area of focus for students separate from the core subjects of math, science, English and history while also integrating elements from those courses into the curriculums. Art based courses are sometimes regarded as an “elective” or a “fun” course as opposed to something that students really have a need for. This may be the area where your child truly excels. While art is not for everyone, neither is science or math or history. A speaker from the video Arts and the Mind says, “Everyone needs to find that place where they are magnificent.” Art may be that place.
If that place is realized and recognized as a point of success for a student, the opportunities for employment in the arts is wider than is generally recognized. We live in a visual world where the artist’s fingerprint is eternally reoccurring. Film, advertising, art therapy, architecture, commercials, journalism, web design, and interior design are just a few of many successful career options in this field. The impact of being successful in the arts is tangible. Getting involved in the arts at a young age paves the way to the lifelong involvement and success. The creativity that is encouraged and developed in art education is the same kind of flexible thinking that it takes to evolve our society. Collaborations of artists or creative thinkers with scientists and others are what can enhance our technology and development to the next stage.
While art has the potential to be an individual exercise, it can also largely be a team endeavor. Being able to work with a team and creating a community of fellow artists as well as people outside of the field widens the possibilities for a student later in life. It is this community that will build up students and teachers, alike, to be well rounded and involved members of society. So much of testing and work in schools is increasingly individual. In the arts, students are encouraged to collaborate, help each other, and push each other past the boundaries and perceived confines of projects.
       Through the arts, students explore what it means to have an identity. They delve in to who they are as an individual and how to express it fluidly in tune with their individual rhythm. The arts provide a place where an eager learner can fine tune technical skills or they can experiment with mediums until something clicks. The arts create a universal language that can connect a student in Kansas to a student in Hong Kong. These skills and relationships are precious. It doesn’t matter where or when you begin, becoming involved with art education is an invaluable decision that will provide lifelong engagement and connection necessary for all children's development.
- Annika Wooton
Miss Greater Wichita 2015

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Me, myself and my "pageant self"

"I am made and remade 
continually.
Different people draw
different words
from me."

- Virginia Woolf

As a woman with an intensely creative soul, I am constantly reinventing myself. 

The times come and go and so do the fashion trends. That's not to say that I follow any of the trends religiously, but my closet fluctuates with trips to Plato's Closet buying and selling clothes and picking up new items at Kieu's or Flirt down on Mass. 

Right now, I'm going for more sleek, solid colors rather than the previous mismatch of loud prints in my wardrobe. You'll still see an outlier here and there, but that's my aura right now in fashion.

I permed my hair a few months ago because I needed a change there. It wasn't quite the crazy, artist, "Miss Frizzle" hair that I wanted but I learned to love the unique tinge and twirl of my new locks. (Let's be thankful I didn't go with my other idea which was to bleach half - just half! - of my hair... because, why not? Er... glad that didn't happen.)

Over the years I have been in Kansas, the amount of rings I wear on my fingers has dwindled drastically. People who knew me in high school could tell you that I wore an obscene amount of rings -- normally about 16 dazzling things on my fingers. 

Now, I also find a creative outlet in modeling. In these shoots, I have the opportunity to transform into different personas that are captured on the camera. This can involve heavy to no makeup, big crazy hair or slicked back, or a simple black ensemble versus an extravagant gown. 

I chose to get a spray tan the other day before the Models for Miracles show. Angela with Liquid Sun Spray had a special "redhead solution" for me to try out and gave me a beautiful tan.

Left: Eric Frank, Right: Carlos Funn, Model: Annika Wooton

All these things are ways I change with the ebb and flow of how I feel and what's going on in my world. What I wear in the studio when I'm working on art is not the same thing I would wear to an interview - that wouldn't be appropriate, nor would the inverse be practical. The way I do my hair and makeup for work is not the same as I would do for a fashion show or a pageant. Imagine wearing false eyelashes at a dining hall and one falling in the food! Or donning a hairnet during pageant festivities. We all have different shells for different areas of our lives and those shells are appropriate for those areas. 

I do not feel more beautiful when I am tan versus when I am not. Nor do I feel more beautiful when I am onstage in an evening gown and full makeup versus when I am fresh-faced hanging out with friends in blue jeans. It sounds cliche, but it is what's inside that makes me feel beautiful. It's the people I choose to surround myself and how I feel when I am with them. It's the way I present myself in particular situations. It's my core and my light that make the shell worth anything.

I feel authentic in my decisions in the way I dress and present myself. It's funny because sometimes I say I have a "pageant-self" and an "artist-self". But really the "self" is the same. It's just what's on the self that changes every so often.

Whether I am porcelain or tan, face full of makeup or flecked with paint, or in a crown or a hairnet, I am always more than what you see before you. The depth and expanse of myself, my world and the people that surround me is always evolving and growing. I am thankful for that.

Your Kansas Ginger,
Annika Wooton

Saturday, January 3, 2015

There's No Place Like Home

Home is a sacred space.

And to be "home" means several things to me. 



See, I was born in Kansas... Two years later, my brother came along. We lived in the Land of Oz until I was five, at which point, my family up and moved to Virginia. This is where I spent K-12 and where I essentially grew up. When faced with the question, "Where is home?," I cannot give a succinct answer.

"If there is one global thing we all share, no matter our race, income, religion or beliefs; it is that we all want a place to call home." - Anonymous

To me, home is where I am at rest. Home is where I can be surrounded by family and friends. Home is where I thrive. Home is where I can let loose but also where I can cry. My home can adapt. My home can easily be my car for a few days while I travel across the state or across the country to be with people I love. Home is where I come to at night to feel safe. 


I know this truly - Home isn't a place, it's a feeling.

Maybe that means being in my own bed. Maybe that means having "family dinner" with my roommates. Maybe that means taking a train 10 hours south just to see my mom smile. Maybe that means turning the corner after a 19 hour drive to see Christmas lights twinkling in my front yard, knowing they were put up just for me. 



I am proud to call both Richmond, Virginia and the State of Kansas my home. At the end of a duration in one place or the other, I am always so eager to return home, but it's a bittersweet moment leaving home, too. Each time, I have built more relationships, memories and ties to a place that add precedence. And again each time, the feeling of being home at the end of the day is overwhelming.

In a little over a week, I will be making the journey back home to Kansas, where I spend the majority of the year. The 19 hour drive is undoubtedly long, but during the passing hours, I am always thankful that for the valuable time I've spent on the break with family and friends and thankful for the community that I am returning to. 



As the next semester begins with the start of the new year, you can be sure to see big things coming from my direction. I have a couple big projects and big goals that you won't want to miss.

Here's to the new year and here's to being home.


Cheers,
Annika Wooton