“I’ve lived in Cape my whole life; I went to Cape Central High School, and I never really did a whole lot until the end. And I kind of regret that; I wish I’d have gotten more involved and gotten to know more people.

“But I’m a community college now here in town, on an A+ scholarship, so it’s completely free, so that’s really nice. I’m going to get an Associate’s Degree in General Studies, and then I plan on moving to St. Louis to study mortuary science. I want to be an embalmer. I want to do something new!

“There’s funeral directing, and embalming; all sorts of different paths that you can take in the funeral business. They’re all roughly two year courses- a year of studying and then a year of practical experience, so you are getting hands-on work before actually jumping into the field. I went down to Amick-Burnett down in Scott City and I talked to them. They’re a really small, family-owned business, and they really gave me an inside look into what it takes. A lot of them [funeral homes] are family owned, so there’s a lot of getting to know people.

“I’ve always been fascinated with things like this. I love finding the oldest cemetery I can find; I think that’s just so fascinating. There is so much history and so many different back stories you can learn from that. You find a headstone, and that’s a person; that’s their life. I think that’s really incredible.”