Column: A Happy Medium, by Erin Murtaugh

Editor’s note: The Tribune welcomes its new Thursday columnist, Albert Lea High School student Erin Murtaugh.

 

What? Who is this teenage girl and what is she doing in the opinion section? Where is Scott Schmeltzer’s column? What is the Tribune coming to?

Just kidding.

Let’s start this over. I’m Erin Murtaugh and as you may or may not have figured out already, I’m the Tribune’s summer intern. This fall I will be a senior at Albert Lea High School and could not be more excited about it.

I’ve got lots of things to look forward to about this coming year. I’m a member of National Honor Society, Ahlahasa, Student Council, Link Crew, orchestra and choir. I’m treasurer of Student Council. This year, I’m co-editor of Ahlahasa, our student newspaper, along with Kade Wiemerslage and Lindsey Freitag. Both of them are awesome people. I also hope to be a member of chorale again this year.

I can’t believe my senior year of high school is already approaching. Last week we had a Student Council meeting to begin planning Homecoming week. Time is flying by so quickly.

College is coming up soon, too. I just took the ACT last month. I’m pretty proud of how I did, but there’s always room for improvement, right? So I’ll be taking it again most likely. Then comes the college applications. Where do I even begin to apply?

This spring I visited the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. It is a beautiful school and the student atmosphere is great. There’s only one problem. It’s not well-known. I want to go to college for photography. Once I graduate from college and start looking for a job, I want people to look at where I’ve been educated and know that school has a great reputation.

So the question remains: Where do I even begin to apply? Where do I want to go? At least I still have a few months to think that one through.

I consider myself to be a pretty extraordinary person. If you ask Brandi Hagen about me, she’ll tell you I like to eat Cheez-Its crackers in milk. Yes, you read that right. I like to eat Cheez-Its like cereal. When you’re hungry late at night, you tend to think of some strange ideas.

I also have some pretty big dreams. I would love to buy the Freeborn County National Bank building. How cool would it be to restore the interior and make it fully functional again? I envision it with an Italian restaurant on the main floor and have the upper floors be apartments and studios for rent.

I’m also very into art. I love all kinds of art but especially love painting and taking photos. Film photography fascinates me. Art teacher Robin Brown truly inspired me to get into art. Until my sophomore year in high school, I absolutely dreaded art classes. She opened my eyes to photography, which led me to try other forms of art, too.

I have a lot of favorite things. My favorite feeling is coming home and having my Chihuahua, Maya, greet me at the door. I love that dogs are so loving to their humans.

My favorite color is purple, and if you want to get technical, my favorite shade of purple is wisteria. My favorite kind of shoe is a high heel, because it makes me seem a little taller than 5 feet 2 inches when I’m wearing them. My favorite time of day is at sunset because I love capturing the beautiful colors. I could tell you the rest of my favorites, but you might be reading this column for days.

Now that you know a little bit about me, I’m happy to inform you that my column will appear every Thursday. I’m not entirely sure what the topics will be about. Sometimes it may be a more serious topic, but I also like to keep things humorous. The only way you’ll know what I choose to write about is if you keep reading my column. Until next week, stay golden.

 

Erin Murtaugh is a senior at Albert Lea High School.