Talk about a girl who's got it going on… As she rounds out her final year of high school, Emily Berry, a Bradford senior '12 (Kenosha, WI), has quite a bit to be proud of. She made tons of friends, played volleyball, was on the Homecoming Court, and was involved in community outreach. Pretty soon, she'll be packing up to head out to UW Oshkosh, but until then, she's got some fun memories to share with us and some great advice to give.

Emily grew up on the "southside" of Kenosha, but chose to transfer to Bradford for high school—she was ready for a change. Looking back, it proves to be a wise decision, as she loved her high school experience. Her Mom would often remind her, "Em, do what makes YOU happy, not what makes other people happy." She's now looking forward, excited about majoring in Elementary Education at UW Oshkosh with hopes to minor in coaching (for volleyball). Outside of her hope to win the lottery someday, she would love to travel the world—especially Europe and maybe even Africa or China.

When thinking about what is near & dear to Emily, she had this to share: "I am very involved in my church and the mission work that we do. The summer before my freshman year they opened up mission trips to high school students. We went to West Virginia the summers before my freshman and sophomore years. The summer before my junior year we went into the bayous of Louisiana and helped out with Hurricane cleanup and repair. And the summer before my senior year we did a more urban trip right outside of St. Louis, Missouri. The most exciting one of all is the one coming up in June—we are going to Guatemala for a week. I have never traveled outside of the United States so this is super exciting for me!"

Emily LOVES volleyball. Her freshman year, she was named MVP for her team and throughout her four years at Bradford, moved up to JV and to Varsity. She also played club volleyball with the Wisconsin Juniors for three years.

Emily is most proud of her senior season at Bradford, but when looking back on her junior year Varsity team experience, she said, "Although I didn't play during games I still felt like I was a huge part of the team. We were truly 15 sisters; that was the closest team bond I have ever had. I will honestly miss playing volleyball for Bradford A LOT. "

"My favorite senior year memory would DEFINITELY be our football team winning state! It was an AMAZING experience to be at Camp Randall with everyone and watch our boys take home a state title, especially coming soooo close all four years we were there. It was a great memory for our SENIOR year. It was also realllyyy cool being able to say that I was on Homecoming Court senior year. It was super exciting and tons of fun being a part of the assembly, making a video, and making t-shirts. Also, I was paired up with one of my friends, Riley, so that was fun too."

Emily now recognizes how fast the high school years fly by and she has some advice to leave with underclassmen. "GET INVOLVED!" she says without hesitation. "I wish I would have gotten more involved in student government or honor society or any other clubs. I was involved in the marketing program/DECA which was a great learning experience. And then obviously I was involved in volleyball, but I feel like I could have done more, and now that I'm looking for scholarships for school I DEFINITELY wish I would have done more."

Some of Emily's favorites...

Movie: A Walk to Remember OR Remember the Titans, both great movies/stories

Band: Rascal Flatts! I grew up loving country music and this particular band reminds me of one of my Mom's close friends (I call him my uncle) because he looks like he could be the lead singer's brother! lol

Food: I love just about anything! My favorite thing to do is eat. Haha!

Ice Cream: Moose Tracks- my Papa used to buy it for me every time he went to the store just to keep me happy. It makes me think of him whenever I have it.

"I am very ready to go to college. I'm ready for a change," Emily said. But with heartfelt expression she added, "It will definitely be weird not seeing familiar faces everyday and I will miss seeing all of my close friends all the time as we all go our separate ways." To her fellow graduating seniors, she says, "Thank you for being a great class to be a part of. We have had a lot of memories in the past four years. I went into Bradford not knowing anyone and I made a lot of friends very fast and I'm very happy for that. Good luck to everyone!"

Regarding her experience with Langhoff Design, Emily remarked, "I loved the photo shoot we had for my senior pictures down by the lake! We talked and talked and talked and laughed and had tons of fun experimenting with different places to take pictures." For a little more on the story of our shoot together, check out this older post.

Congratulations and best of luck to a beautiful young woman with tons of potential.