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Elizabeth Twitchell

Yes. That is me. I go by Lizzy; but, due to the fact that I have 6 younger siblings and a large extended family, I answer to a whole slew of names.

 

So, a bit of my story.

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I have always loved being outside. My backyard was my playground. I learned the science of making mud pies (yes, it is a science--just like cooking), and the skill of
fense making (the Barbie horse was very spirited). Over the last ten years, I have learned to take a humble pride in the art of landscaping. As I grew into my teen years, camping, hiking, bike riding, and clouds have occupied many hours. In the last four years, I have come to enjoy rock climbing, rappelling, pondering nature, and adventures.

Music is a big part of my life. I play the piano, sing (mostly in the car while driving, at 1 am, and in the shower--don’t ask), am teaching myself how to play the guitar, listen to it on the radio (K-Love is my favorite station), and dance (mainly ballroom).

 

I was homeschooled for a looooooong time--from birth to three months before my fourteenth birthday. I did things like workbooks, co-ops, Liberty Girls, Young American Stateswomen Association (YASA for short), reading of all kinds (though I did not come to care much for it til I was about eight), gardening, and whatever else my mom had in mind.

During what would be considered my 8th grade year, I was a part of what was called Scholar Group. It was a little more challenging than what I had been doing up to that point, I got to meet and learn with friends once a week, and learn about some new subjects. In February, I became dissatisfied with what I was doing and wanted something different. Along with this was that most of my friends were starting high school, and I kind of wanted to do what they were doing. My parents were not very excited about that. We lived in the area that they grew up in, and they had a lot better idea than I did of what went on in that big building in the old part of town. They encouraged me to look at

different options and think through what would really be the best for the next phase of my education. I went to a couple conferences, gathered information, looked online. I was looking for something epic. :D

Enter Williamsburg!

 

A friend of mine had been doing Williamsburg Intermediate for several months and loved it. When her mom heard through the grapevine that I was looking for a different education option, they both suggested that I check out the high school: Williamsburg Academy. I looked it up, went through the website, and really wanted to do it.

 

That’s when the battle began: I had to convince my parents.

 

My mom was not too hard and helped me to contact the Academic Coach, Adam Hailstone, and get more information. We came up with a plan of how it would all go done and presented it to my dad. Let’s just say that the next while was a long, drawn out, exhausting debate. Despite all the obstacles, by June 2013, I was a student of Williamsburg Academy and enrolled in a couple summer classes to prepare for doing it full-time in the fall.

 

That was the beginning. And everything since then has been one crazy rollercoaster!


In the last four years, so many experiences have taken place. Classes have been a mix of awesome and insane--somehow those two are always going hand in hand. The mentors are incredible! And they are super quotable people! I’m pretty sure that 70% of the quotes I have from my years at Williamsburg are from David Rees--I’m not exactly sure why, but I think they all had to do with some homework assignment or another. Not sure on that either.

Burgers are amazing! It is no wonder that we want to hang out together all the time. This is where I’ve made some of my best friends. I “adopted” a couple hundred siblings (maybe not quite that many; but, yes, that is why I do not know the answer when you ask how many I have--I lost count at about 178, and that was years ago). There’s this term “framily” that we talked about in Geography and World Events. This is kind of like the idea of “kin” where you are close friends but more than that, and are basically family. My pod from August 2016 Elevation are definitely that--we’re family.


I have challenged and overcome fears. I’ve become a better and stronger person. I like to sum it up as “I have gone from ‘college is going to be a shock for her,’ to ‘people will stand in amazement.’" It is so true. I visited SUU in October and shared a bit of my story and what I was currently doing, and people were just floored.

Me with my twin brothers Keegan (left) and Braydan (right)

Yes, they are twins.

My fam. Pod 6 (August 2016 Elevation)

#LegDay #WWBD

Di“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Not only is this the class motto, but I think of this as kind of the motto for my life. I have never been one to follow the well-beaten path, and do it all like everyone around me. I usually have taken the hard road. Things have been rough because of that--it’s been really hard. But I am a stronger person for it. I have often had people describe me as a leader, and I guess that is just from how I am. I don’t follow the path, I forge my own, and leave a path for others to follow.

 

 

I wish I could share all the quotes and advice that have changed my life, but we would be sitting for who knows how long if I could even remember them all.

Advice:

  • Create your own incredible experiences.

  • Live outside your comfort zone. Do it however you like, but do it! Comfort zones were created so that we can discover our limits, challenge them, and live outside them.

  • Go live an epic life! Everyone one wants to have an epic story--an epic life. My friend Devon Kelly once described EPIC as ENGAGING, PERSONAL, INSPIRING, CONVERSATIONS. Looking back, I can see that the epic moments were epic because of just that: engaging, personal, inspiring conversations.

  • Find your dream (your purpose in life) and go after it--let nothing stand in your way.

The Future

 

This summer I will be working and saving money for college. I am attending Southern Utah University (SUU) starting this fall. I will be working towards a bachelor's degree, but I'm not exactly sure on my major yet. 

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I want to come back and be a mentor at Williamsburg so that I can touch the lives of students just as my mentors have mine. But even if that does not happen, I want to mentor youth because they are incredible.

Thank you, Williamsburg for an amazing four years! Keep changing the world one life at a time!

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