September 20, 2007

            My full name is Whitney Fox Whitehair.  I was born on September 17th 1987, at Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, Indiana.  I was born to my parents Charles Leland Whitehair and Susan Christine Rhodes Whitehair who are still married today.  My dad was born and raised in Albany Indiana and my mom was born and raised in Rochester Indiana.  My dad is a self-employed farmer and my mom is a registered nurse who works in surgery at Ball Memorial Hospital.

Abi, Macy, Mom, Morgan, Dad, Me

            I am the second of five girls in my family, in which the only boy in the family is my dad. I have an older sister Abigail who is 24 and attended Ball State University for two years and Purdue University for 2 years.  She graduated from Purdue in 2008 in AgEcon.  The next youngest sister is Skylar.  She was diagnosed with heart problems when she was an infant and passed away in January of 1988.  My next younger sister is Morgan who is 18.  She is now a senior at Delta High School and plays three sports, soccer, basketball and tennis.  She will graduate from Delta in May of 2010 and will attend Anderson University in the fall. The youngest of my sisters is Macy who is 12.  She is a sixth grader at Delta Middle School and plays volleyball.  All of my sisters and I all have a really close relationship.

            I was born and raised in Albany Indiana, which is in the east-central Indiana region.  We live out in the country on a farm.  We have never moved, so I have lived on the farm in the same house my entire life.  On the farm, we used to raise a lot pigs and a few sheep, but we had a barn fire in 1996 and we lost just about all of them.  Today we don’t have any sheep, but do raise 4-H pigs.  We have 7 horses, 1 pony, 1 dog and 1 puppy, along with a lot of barn cats.  I have a calico cat named Baby who stays in the house and think she is a dog.  I have had her ever since she was a kitten and nursed out of a bottle.  My little sister Macy also has a family bird named Birdie, and a lizard from Myrtle Beach named Izzy.  Aside from all the animals, we farm around 2000 acres, which is a variety of corn, sweet corn, soybeans and wheat.  I help out during planting season by getting the fields plowed so they can be ready for planting and during the summer, I help bale hay and straw.  Growing up on a farm has made me really appreciate the good things in life.  Family is very important to me and I know that the good things in life don’t come free.  My parents have worked for everything we have, so I have come to really appreciate what hard work is.

Baby

            As for my earlier education, I attended DeSoto Elementary up until 5th grade, and then I went to Delta Middle and High School after that.  At DeSoto Elementary, I was active in Spell Bowl and Math Bowl, and at Delta Middle School I was on Student Council, received all A’s all three years, and played basketball and swimming.  At Delta High School, I was in National Honor Society for three years, FFA for four years, Captains’ Table for one year and on the honor roll all of my high school career.  As for sports, I played varsity soccer for four years, JV basketball for one year, varsity basketball for three years and ran varsity track for two years.  I graduated in 2006 from Delta High School with an Academic Honors Diploma and was ranked 27 out of 318 in my class.  I planned on attending Manchester College by the end of my senior year. Deciding what college I was going to attend was always a big dispute in my family, so being able to play soccer at Manchester influenced my decision.  I am glad I made the choice and had the opportunity to be a part of the Manchester Women's Soccer team for 4 years.  I have made a lot of friendships through soccer and will definitely miss playing next year.

Grandma Whitehair & Me

     In my first year at Manchester College I started out majoring in biology and played soccer.  I later switched my major to Medical Technology and during the beginning of my sophomore year to Elementary Education with Mild Intervention.  Figuring out what I wanted to major in was very hard for me.  I struggled with being able to stay at Manchester just because of the fact that I didn’t want to waste my money not knowing what I want to major in.  I have always looked up to my Grandma Louise (Fox) Whitehair, who I am named after, and was blessed to have the opportunity to follow in her footsteps becoming Spartan at Manchester.  My Grandma was an Elementary education major too, and I can remember her teaching me to read when I was three years old.  Her dedication to teaching others has inspired me to become a teacher too.  I am so glad that I finally got it right this time.

Machu Pichu (Peru South America)

            For a little bit more on the personal side, I am usually quiet and shy until you get to really know me.  I am always looking forward to meeting new people and going to new places.  During the summer of 2007, I went to Peru, South America with Manchester’s soccer program and had an amazing time.  The sights that we saw were spectacular and the experience was once in a lifetime.  Traveling to Peru has made me more adventurous and made me want to travel in the future, maybe even teach abroad someday. 

Me and my boyfriend Drew

 As for some of my hobbies, I love to scrapbook and I love being creative.  I enjoy watching funny movies and hanging out with my friends.  I like to be very organized and have things go as planned.  I really don’t like cocky and rude people, but I do admire people with confidence.  I love being at home, so I am really close to my family, and we spend a lot of quality time together on the farm. In the summer of 2005, my uncle Jeff passed away, and it has really given me a different outlook on life.  Up until then, I hadn’t had really any close family members pass away.  His death was a hard time for me, and it has made me realize that at any moment something could change my life forever.  You have to live for the moment and forget about all the small stuff in life holding you back.

            Someday, I hope to have a big family and farm out in the country.  I plan on graduating from Manchester in the next three years and eventually pursue my career in education.  I want to thank my parents for pushing me in school and working hard, just so that I could feel like I had a normal life growing up.  If it wasn’t for them, I may not be where I am today at Manchester.  Many students don’t get the chance to go to a private college, or even any college alone, so I am very lucky to be able to go to Manchester College today. I am so excited to graduate on May 23rd 2010!