Following My Dreams

Okay non-existent blog followers,

First of all, I would like to address that I secretly like that nobody reads this. If I wanted people to read this I would tell them to. I have told nobody about this blog (yet). If someone is reading this then it's probably sent from the Gods that you are supposed to read this because you had to have stumbled upon it.

I am going to go for it. I have ALWAYS wanted to be a singer. ALWAYS. For so long I've been telling myself it's hard, and not practical, it's just for fun...etc. I think the core reason why I haven't chased my dream is that I still care too much about what people think of me. I am going to finally go after my dream of singing. I have this talent and I love it more than anything. I am going to work my hardest and give it all I have until it's enough. It scares me how much of a long road I have to go until I make it to where I want to be. Knowing me, I can do it. I've never wanted something more (except when I was little and wanted to be a mermaid). If I were to work to be a musician, I wouldn't work a day in my life. Because it is something I love with all my heart. So if you are reading this, say a little prayer for me that I will make it and make sure to buy my music when it comes out.

Lauren

YOUTUBE CHANNEL CHECK IT OUT!

Click here to see my YouTube Channel

This is a new channel from when I posted this Blog post, so it only has two covers on it. However, stay tuned and I am going to build it up this summer.

Life is sooo Hard sometimes

I just finished my last final however, this semester... wow what a semester. I lost my good friend Erik to cancer, got mono and pneumonia. THIS SEMESTER WAS SO HARD FOR ME. I feel like I've been beaten down and stomped on by college. On top of that I'm not 100% sure about my major. I also had a teacher accuse me of cheating, which I didn't do, so for two weeks I was on trial with her until she realized the truth that I didn't do it. She threatened to fail me (she didn't in the end).

On top of those bad things there were a lot of good things as well though, don't get me wrong my life is still amazing. I traveled to New York City and California, a tweet of mine went viral, I made the front page of my local newspaper, started writing more songs, did President's Cabinet at USU, made Blue Crew for next year at USU, met Jimmy Fallon, saw 3 broadway shows, made a lot of new friends (lost a lot of friends), performed in front of thousands of people, was awarded hardest worker for my division in Presidnt's Cabinet, moved to a higher up position at my job, gained a lot more confidence and respect for myself... Honestly my life is a whirlwind.

The truth is I think I grew more in this semester than people normally do in 10. I was put in the refiners fire, which means God is probably preparing me for something big. I know this post seems more like a journal entry but I felt like I needed to put this on my blog for some reason. I don't think anyone will even read this, so maybe it's more for me.

It's summer now, as of today. My goals for this summer are to focus on getting myself completely better from all this crap in my system leftover from mono and pneumonia, focus on my music, take it easy and not overwork. I would love to pursue music more than anything right now, maybe that's just me being sick of school, but I can't wait to see where it takes me.

Lauren K. Morrill

Equality

     Men and Women are equal. They are different obviously but that doesn't mean one gender is more important than the other. Both men and women  have noses, eyes, legs... well most of them. That seems pretty trivial, but so does the thought of men and women even being treated differently. WHY are women still getting paid less than men working at the same job? (Link). I wish I had an answer, however my opinion is that of most other women in the world, and most men. Women and men should have equal rights, one gender is not better than the other. Different but equal.

Graduation

     My sister, Brooke graduated from UVU with a bachelors degree in photography 3 days ago. I couldn't be more proud. I was literally the person crying in the audience. She is a big role model in my life. She transferred to 4 different colleges, changed her major like 10 times, and she did it. She never gave up hope. She is eight and a half years older than me, I know we look like twins. Love you, Brooke! 

Future Plans

     As a college student, others plan out our futures for us. It sounds a little like a check list:

1. Date
2. Do service for an organization (or religious missions)
3. Get married
4. Get a degree
5. Get a job
6. Start a family


This whole concept scares me to death. I just want to do my own thing and stay young like Peter Pan forever. Honestly what is wrong with that? Nothing. I've accepted that it is perfectly fine to go at my own pace, and disappointing my aunts at family reunions is fine. So what if I change my major 5 times? So what if I have to retake a class? If I mess up so many times, at least I will know without a doubt which way is the best way for me. Choosing the road less traveled by makes all the difference (Robert Frost).

Nick, Justin, Paisley, Eric, Karen

Suicide is sad and real and I just learned last weekend of another friend taking their own life. It is such a taboo topic but when it happens it leaves a monstrous cavity in everyone's lives. I've had too many friends taken by it! Please please PLEASE if you need help, reach out to someone! I know it seems dark and like the end, but if you just wait a while longer I PROMISE the sun will shine again.

You are loved

You are needed

You matter

You and your future are worth the fight.

Where you are now is not where you will be forever. Just remember that.

Sorority Girl

     

     I feel like I am the person you would least expect to join a sorority. However I did, and I LOVE it! It was the best decision I have made so far at Utah State University. I have made lots of life long friends, and gained a significant amount of confidence in myself. I know at any given time there are always 120 girls that have my back. If I am having a problem, I can pick which one will help me the best. Kappa Delta is my home away from home. I will forever be proud of the emerald and pearl pin I wear with my business attire.

     Some common misconceptions people have about sororities are:

1. We buy our friends. Honestly all of our money we pay is meticulously routed to events, fundraisers, philanthropies, socials, electricity, and t-shirts. Just like any other club. So to you that think I'm buying my friends, that's the best money I have ever spent.

2. We pay a TON of money, and everyone has to be rich. NOPE. Not true. We pay as much as you would think a high functioning club would pay. Which surprisingly isn't that much. I have a part time job during the school year, full time summer, and I pay for my own tuition, clothes, food, fun, housing, and yes. Sorority expenses.

3. We party. Okay this one can be true, but I am here to tell you that I am not a party animal and have never touched alcohol in my life. My idea of partying is hanging out with a group of friends and maybe having a dance party. Or making crepes, or singing karaoke... My sorority does NOT condone under age drinking, and does not allow girls to post pictures on social media of them under the influence. When there are problems that arise with girls and drinking, it is a standards issue and it is taken extremely seriously.

4. Girls who don't care about school. Actually the girls in my sorority have one of the highest GPA averages of any organization on campus. Academia comes first, after all isn't that why we are in college in the first place?


     Sororities and fraternities aren't for everyone, and each one is different. However in my opinion they are extremely underestimated. I have grown so much just in the year and a half I have been in one. I know I wouldn't be anywhere close to where I am now, if it weren't for Kappa Delta.

1 Year

     It is my one year anniversary for working at the Utah State Research Foundation Space Dynamics Lab in 3 days. Yes on May the 4th, I'm a nerd I know. It seams like I started just a couple months ago. I love it there, I mean there are occasions where I get sick of the engineers saying math terms that go way over my head, but I really do like it. I feel so lucky to work in an actual industry while still in my undergrad. I'm pretty sure the only reasons I got my particular position was because I was the most passionate candidate, and a couple good references.

     A lot of people get a degree and go to work in their chosen industry, and realize they don't like it. I get to realize now what I do and don't like about the space industry, or if I even want to be in it. It's hard work, but very rewarding. I also get to network a lot. I have met NASA and SpaceX representatives who gave me the best tips I have ever received on getting into the industry. One CEO of a satellite company even took me to fly his plane (first time flying, so cool). I just hope I can use all of this knowledge and networking for later, to get a good job.

Do What Scares You

     Everyone is scared of something. Heights, the dark, needles (I am terrified of needles), roller coasters, public speaking, spiders...etc. What are you scared of? I want to share a story of when I overcame a huge fear of mine. This honestly isn't an easy story for me to share, but at this point in my life I don't care. I could care less if you think this story is dumb, I'm writing this because maybe there is one person who needs to hear this. Someone who is going through what I went through.

     It was the first day of my freshman year of high school when I walked through the heavy red Logan High School doors. I wanted to turn around and get back into my mom's warm car. Unfortunately (I know we all felt like this) I knew that wasn't a reasonable option. I hardly knew anybody, I had gone to a charter school my 8th grade year and knew public school would be a lot different. The Student Body Officers helped me find my classes. I smiled at everyone hoping I would spark up at least one friendship.

     On a scale from 1 to super confident, my confidence level was a flat 2. I hated school and faked sick all the time. My grades reflected my attitude toward school. Looking back at this time in my life, I wish I could say "Hey! You're great! Nobody cares as much as you think they do!" I hardly had any friends my freshman year and when a teacher asked me something I would get extremely nervous. Once a classmate even laughed at me because I turned red. I wished I could be like everyone else, pretty, smart, well liked. I didn't know that my toughest judge was myself. My fear? Was what everyone thought of me. I was on the volleyball team but quit after my freshman year, despite my major improvements, because I honestly couldn't handle the pressure of people watching me play.

     Something happened the summer before my Sophomore year. Like a slap in the face, I realized that I was an okay person and nobody really even noticed when I said the wrong thing. They were too concerned about what everyone thought of them. My goal sophomore year was to notice the good in people instead of trying to be noticed by kids who were "cool". I made so many friends my sophomore year, I stopped caring about what people thought. I started building myself up instead of tearing myself down.

"Those who mind, don't matter.

Those who matter, don't mind."
-Dr. Seuss

     I love singing. I have ALWAYS loved singing. Even when someone told me I was off key at a karaoke night and I thought I would never sing in public again, I kept practicing it alone in my room accompanying myself with my nylon string acoustic. Once I was singing with my friends in a car on our way to get 7/11 slushees (remember how the person who could drive first in high school was always the cool one). One of them told me that they didn't know I could sing. I can only imagine I said something self defeating. I didn't think I could sing, I just knew I liked doing it. They told me I should try out for the choir. I listened to that friend, and goodness I am extremely glad I did! 

     Auditions were only in front of 4 people, but to me that was 400% more people than I was used to singing in front of. I remember I even spelled choir wrong I was so nervous. I spelled it "quoir". I made it, and singing became my life. I sang ALL THE TIME (I still do). Suddenly pushing myself to sing in front of people became a way to kick that insecure demon inside of me out to the gutter. "Sayonara biotch!" My choir took first overall at Nationals, I went to a state competition with an aria (aria pretty much just means opera), and I started singing in front of hundreds of people at least once a month. Eventually thousands of people, and I got talent scouted to go sing in Nashville for a music company that started Jason Mraz's career (which I chose to turn down because it was either that or college, every time finals come around I wish I hadn't.)

     Singing in front of people STILL terrifies me. I still become insecure all the time. However I found that there is a power in doing those things that scare me. A power that transforms me from a small town girl to the next Beyonce (okay maybe that's a bit extreme but you get it). I know that if I mess up, I will always be proud of myself for trying. Nobody will remember my mess up in a few years time unless I remind them. My senior year I was Senior Vice President, on the golf team, CX team, in a million clubs, and close to a 4.0 student. I'm not saying this to show off, I don't even know if anyone is going to actually read this. To put an end to this long story (if you read this whole thing, you are amazing and I will personally take you out to lunch), I hope you do something that scares you every day. You'll eventually realize nothing is impossible.

XOXO Lauren

When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer

Walt Whitman, 1819 - 1892

When I heard the learn’d astronomer,

When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,

When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide,

   and measure them,

When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with

   much applause in the lecture-room,

How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,

Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself,

In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,

Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.

     I haven't decided yet if I'm posting this to depict a beautiful poem by Walt Whitman, or to simply express how much I am done with school at this particular moment. While it is most likely the latter that is inspiring this post, I would like to point out that we focus too much on authority. 

     We listen to the first person to tell us how to live life, then we listen to the next person who seems to know more than the first. We do whatever it takes so that when we speak to someone someday they will listen to us when we tell them how to live life. However did we ever think twice that maybe there is no right way to live? That maybe doing what we innately believe is the right thing to do is better than any advice any "learn'd" person can give us. 

     What Walt Whitman was saying in his poem was that no chart, or diagram, or proof, or figure, or some PhD professor can tell you exactly what the real world is like. The best way to figure that out is actually being in the real world. I'm not saying school's a joke. In fact stay in school, kids! What I am trying to say is in the midst of trying to cram numbers and figures in your brain, go out and live your life and see for yourself how the world is. Instead of only seeing it through clouded lenses. 

Life is the best professor.

Spring Break 2016

Spring Break

For Spring Break I borrowed the extra seat in my brother's car and went to Portland, Oregon with his wife and 1 year old. I had never been to Oregon before so I wasn't sure what to expect. I had no idea how much I would love it. Even though it rained most of the time we were there, it was beautiful! Everything is green, even the dead trees are covered in green moss and vines. I have to say the best part though was the culture. Everyone is friendly, dresses nice --except for the bums which there are PLENTY of, great food on every corner, and the seaside... oh the seaside <3

We went to Cannon Beach, the one off of the Goonies with One Eye'd Willey. It was freezing and there was a lot of wind due to the time of year. However even that didn't change how gorgeous the beach was. Haystack rock (shown in the picture above) was quite the sight. You can tell from the picture above that my coat seems a bit tight on me because of all of the layers I had underneath. The wind was so strong we could lay against it.

 Here are a couple of my favorite restaurants in Portland:

                                                
           Pibs Doughnuts (better than Voodoo)                                             Salt & Straw Ice Cream is AMAZING

I hope you get the chance to find yourself in Portland, Oregon one day, if you haven't been already. 

-Lauren

Harper Lee

In memory of Harper Lee passing away this last week, this blog post is for her. She was a literary genius of her time. Her most well known book, To Kill a Mockingbird, addresses racial stereotypes. It makes the reader cheer for the blacks, which at the time was a disturbing thought to some. Harper Lee understood how to make the reader question their own way of thinking. Here is my favorite quote from her:

            

   -Lauren

ELECTIONS

Elections are coming up in the United States next year, and at USU this month. What are elections? That is a ridiculous question, of course we all know what elections are. However I want to highlight every aspect of elections that maybe you haven't thought of yet.

1st perspective: Voters. Most of us are more accustomed to this perspective. We look at the candidate and usually vote for the one that aligns with our beliefs, or the one we have heard about the most from our friends and family. On a more local scale, we vote for the candidate that we have more connections with. e.g." That kid was in my biology class! He seems really nice, I guess I will vote for him." However there is a great percentage of students and Americans who don't vote. Voting is either inconvenient for them, or they don't think they have much say in the matter. Are you someone who takes it upon yourself to know your candidates and votes? Or someone who doesn't vote, but complains when they don't like how things are being run?

2nd: Candidates. The key players, the brave ones. Most have lots of experience with what they are running for, some (even though they won't admit it) are in it for the title. All of them put up with A LOT! They may seem like they have a huge support group, however the bigger support group they have the bigger anti-support group they probably have. Especially presidential candidates, they hear on a daily basis why they are awful human beings. For example senator Marco Rubio was scrutinized for getting 4 parking tickets in 17 years, as if that is the worst thing a presidential candidate has ever done. Each of them have their own opinions, and they usually don't waver. Not only do candidates invest their time and life into running, think about the MONEY. According to the New York Times, Obama spent $750 million on his 2008 campaign! What about the candidates that don't make it? How would you deal with losing all of that money and effort? Would you think it was all for nothing or would you take something away from it? (that last question is a good determining question for if you should run for something or not).

3rd: Facilitators. Everyone forgets about these people. They are the glue, and absolutely essential to campaigns. They aren't allowed to show preference for a certain candidate because it is a good chance they are working with more than one. Maybe I'm biased (I am a facilitator for the USUSA elections coming up this month), Facilitators have the best job. They get to see all three perspectives of the voting process up close, they usually know exactly who they will vote for, and they get to see what works for candidates and what doesn't in case they ever want to run.

Who are you going to vote for? If you don't know, I recommend taking this quiz to see which presidential candidate represents your point of view the best. And when it comes time to vote for USUSA elections go to this site. I believe that gaining knowledge about issues helps you have your own opinion, which helps you become a better arguer.

English 2010 first post

Hi English 2010 class! This is my first blog post in a long time, if you scroll down you will see proof. However this was my blog from high school so you probably don't want to scroll down, be my guest if you do (just promise not to judge too harshly).

     I would like to bring up chapter one from our textbook. I am quite fond of the idea of having an argument that, instead of causing a rift between the two arguers, creates a bond. This world would be a much more pleasant place if everyone learned this skill early on.

     Something about me is I love history. I am not a history major (and will probably never be one), but I believe that you can gain important knowledge by looking at history. Look at the founding fathers of this nation, Jefferson, Washington, Franklin, Adams, Madison, Hamilton, Monroe... They did not by any means entirely agree with each other. All of them had slightly different ideals as to how this country should be established. They, being brilliant arguers, took all of the different opinions and made a settlement. The settlement is what we now call the home we love. THAT is what arguing is.

-Lauren Morrill

Sweethearts

     Last week was the girls choice Sweethearts dance at my school. My group had 12 couples, if you don't know if that is big or not then from a scale from 1 to huge group it is really far up there! Having a mammoth group made it that much more fun though, especially because everyone got to be with their friends and their dates. What do you do with a massive group for a day date? A massive scavenger hunt all over the town of course! We separated into car groups (so 2-3 couples per group), one of the girls in my group had a sister who volunteered to give us all of our clues (we all had 10 clues, each group got the same clues to start out with they were just all in different order so we didn't run into each other too often), then at the very end of the race she awarded candy to the winners. Here are the clues that we got (we had to take a picture of every clue that we completed)

1. Do the chicken dance in front of KFC or Chick-file

2. Help a stranger cross the street

3. The boys had to dress in girls clothes and the girls had to dress in guy clothes (the opposite gender had to pick your clothes, as you can tell us girls were really mean)

4. Propose to a stranger in Walmart

5. Push your date in a shopping cart

6. Kiss on the cheek on top of the Aggie A (a college tradition in my town)

7. Pose like a superhero 

8. Pose with a statue (haha my date is getting nailed in the face)

9. Do a Chinese fire drill but we didn't get a very good picture of it

10. Get a strangers autograph 

     Then we all met at a big parking lot to determine who got first, my group got second to last haha but we probably had the most fun doing all of the challenges. We took our dates home after that then picked them up for dinner and then of course the dance. We had dinner at one of the girl's, dad's work. it was just a huge room with a table in the middle of it, decorated with hearts everywhere. Costa Vida catered and we just had the photographer take our pictures there (My sister Brooke took the pictures she is a pro seriously though check her out at http://brookemorrillphotography.com/)

If you haven't figured it out from all of the pictures above this is my hot date for the night, Jaden Connor. Oh and he also won Sweetheart's king at the dance. That's kinda cool.

Big right? 

     After the day date we went to an elementary school, it was almost 2 in the morning, in a school, pitch black, and we watched a Insidious 2! It was awfully scary but made the night that much more unforgettable and exciting. I honestly couldn't have asked for a better time!

-Love Lauren

Ho Hey Cover (Originally by the Lumineers)

Check out my new cover! (ft. Ricky Benitez, Alison Lee, and Eneida Rosas) I did this for a talent competition last week and won best talent!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKvwB805_X8

Happy Valentine's Day!

   

      Forever is an awfully/wonderfully long time so why on earth would you want to rush something that you want to last forever? Since it is Valentine's day: I come from a town where it is the norm to get married after just a couple months of knowing each other. In fact I have heard of a couple getting married after just one week!! They usually say "it was just meant to be" well I'm not going to judge them, because maybe it really was meant to be, But think about it if you want someone that you will be spending the rest of forever with or the next 80 years with (that is 701,000 hours!) then what is ONE year?

     I honestly can't wait to meet HIM, the one, the only, my forever best friend, my prince...etc but I don't see any reason for rushing. If he loves you he will wait, if he really can't wait then he probably just wants you for ulterior reasons. Plus who doesn't want a patient gent? :)

     Happy Valentine's day! Love Lauren

All along it was a fever!

You've heard me say alot now that I love singing, so here is a video of a duet that I did with my friend Aldin Brown at a talent show singing the song "Stay" by Rihanna. (Haley Klaassen is on piano). Sorry about the poor quality of the video, but the audio still works fine, which is probably why you're watching the video anyway. please feel free to comment :)

LINK TO THIS VIDEO ON YOUTUBE

2013

     2013 was an AMAZING year for me! I have learned a lot, made tons of new friends, gained new talents, and learned quite a bit more about myself. Here is a recap with pictures; kind of like one of those flipagrams but one that you actually have time to look at the pictures.

In January I went to Washington DC with my School Choir for a competition, we took first over-all at Nationals, and that right there my friends is Obama's inauguration. This sounds too good to be true? It felt too good to be true! Honestly Logan High School has a first-rate choir instructor who makes the best out of everything he has. How many other choir teachers do you know that take their kids to Nationals where they take first over-all, and then also takes his kids to the presidential inauguration afterward?  (we didn't get that bad of spots either considering how big the Mall is and it had more people in it than some states have)

My School's Basketball team got painfully close to taking state, even though we did't take state we still got recognized for best high school student section pretty much ever. It was an unforgettable experience being  a part of such a vast crowd all rooting for one cause (we decked our self's out in white for every state playoff game as well, so that we looked more synchronized)

Hiked to the top of Angels Landing in Utah with my family

Crimson and Gold became one of my most frequently worn colors as a Senior Class Officer.

Ended my second year working at Domino's (I've been working there for two years? yes I started when I was 15.) I  enjoyed working there but quit this year because I was doing too many extra curricular activities to have a job.

I turned 17! (I have a tradition on my birthday to watch the sunrise to a new year of my life, this was the pic I took that morning)

Got asked to sing with a band named The Cotton Bones, on the Fourth Of July, on the corner of freedom boulevard. 

Went to EFY for the 4th time

At my school for homecoming week, just like every school, we have loads of traditions like, Senior paint the street, movie on the lawn, girls powder puff, homecoming parade, the football game, and of course the Homecoming dance. I had a hand in every activity that week, and even sang the homecoming theme song "It's All About Us" (by He Is We) in front of the whole school at the Homecoming Assembly with the SCO (Senior Class Officer) president. (That was a big accomplishment for me, it was scary! but I'm so glad that I did it.)

Got excepted to go to USU for college! :)

Was in my first musical, TITANIC, I played the first class surviving passenger, Eleanor Widener. This is my husband in the musical (yeah I know right? we made a cute couple, and we had a stage kiss) I realized doing this that I love doing musicals! I wish I had done more, and I will definitely jump at any chance I get to be in another musical!

"For she's a Girls State Girl, and a girl you ought to know!"
I went to Utah Girls State over the summer (a Government program for girls to set up their own government for a week, run for offices in it, and make a GAZILLION new best friends from all over the state of Utah) There hasn't been a week of my life where I have learned more and grew more than the week I went to Girls State.  I was in  Rampton city, and met Governor Gary R. Herbert while there. (If you went to Girls State also, PLEASE comment on this and tell me your experience! :)

Went to Disneyland!! Seriously one of my favorite places on this earth!

Went BACK to Washington DC in December for Close-Up. (Close-Up is a program for high school Junior and Seniors all over the country to come together and participate and learn about the government. I definitely recommend doing this if you get the chance!) Ignore the annoying finger of whoever was taking the picture, I still love this picture of the group of kids from my school that I went to Close-Up with at the FDR memorial.

    2013 was a truly unforgettable year for me, but ready or not here comes 2014 which will bring, huge changes, life changing decisions, new people, new talents, turning 18, college, new challenges, opportunities, and who knows what else! Come at me 2014!