After graduation, Natalie plans to attend Huntington University in Indiana. There, she will pursue a biology degree with the hopes of interning somewhere in animal sciences.

Favorite song from show choir?

I liked “Like Breathing” a lot. The lines “Let go of feeling you are anything but beautiful / Let go of thinking you can do this on your own / Let go of being scared that you might not be good enough / Let go of saying you were meant to be alone…” It just really applies to the teens of this day and age because there are a lot of people that don’t think highly of themselves and who think that they’re not good enough. But in God’s eyes, we’re all good enough and we’re all perfect and we’re all beautiful to Him.

Finish the sentence: “So this one time, at band camp...”

Mr. Eakin had planned in our drill that I was going to be the female soloist who would be singing in this year’s show. He told the low brass that was standing in an arc to “Come over and pick up Natalie.” He meant this figuratively, but Matthew Wilkins and a couple of the other low brass guys decided they were going to take it literally and they came over and picked me up and carried me across the field.

Best old-school Disney show?

That’s So Raven, because it had such a unique storyline and their family was always so entertaining. I always wanted friends like Eddie and Chelsea who were like my partners in crime, and would always go along with my schemes...not that I ever had any! But it seemed like an entertaining life, to be able to see into the future.

Most rewarding part of helping with Knights 3:16?

Getting to hear all of the kids’ individual stories. Even though they might be going through rough times, they’re always in such rambunctious moods. Seeing their smiles can make me smile and hearing their stories and playing games is great. It’s always awesome to see how Christ is working in their lives.

Biggest difference between what you thought high school would be and what it is?

In elementary school I thought we’d have to use cursive for everything...we never did.  

No, but really, I always thought high school was going to be this big, scary thing where you walked in and everyone was so serious about being the best at everything; I realized grades aren’t everything, teachers are there because they really do love what they do, and high school is a fun experience where you can reach out to different opportunities and find joy in everyday life. You don’t have to take it so, so seriously.