Snapshot of Adele – Part 1

I’m going to start doing snapshots of the birthday person that will include more specific details about what they are doing and their hobbies, interests and pursuits at the time. Sometimes some details get lost in only mentioning events, so this may help capture a little more of the personality and person on a given year.

(PHOTO CREDIT: All photos in Adele's snapshot posts were taken by Tennie's friend Lindsay during a trip to the Salt Flats this past fall.)

Starting this past year, Adele began to grow. She has always been super petite, and probably always will be, but people are not mistaking her for three years younger anymore. She is looking older and taller. Right along with that growth came a huge launch of self. Her characteristics have always been there, but they are manifesting themselves in bigger, more obvious ways. Getting a driver’s license helped. This girls always wanted to go places, and now she is off!

She was uncertain where she wanted to go to school this past fall. She wanted a certain reality for herself, and after much deliberation, she created it for herself. She returned to her old school, but chose to take AP and Honors classes in core subjects, except math which she is doing on her own at her own pace during flex periods. This means not meeting state requirements or getting a paper high school diploma, which means she will apply to college as a "homeschool" student, but this also allows her to pursue what she loves and not sit bored in classes she doesn't find interesting. It was a great creation for herself.

She went after an internship at the IRC (International Rescue Committee) where she now teaches the beginner English class once a week to a handful of refugees. She is exploring getting a ESL certificate in the next year at the Salt Lake Community College. She LOVES working with refugees and is constantly finding possible summer opportunities to work in refugee camps around the world, humanitarian jobs she would be excited about, etc. The world will be open to her when she turns 18!

She got a job at Target making $12.50 an hour over the holidays. It was simply a job to make money for her to pursue dreams. She is an amazing saver and has an unusual knack at money management and responsibility. She also has a great business sense. One of Geoff’s favorite stories to tell about Adele is a time when he was trying to help her with a hard school subject when she was maybe 10 or 11, and she wasn't wanting to do it. He facetiously said, “You better work on this or you’ll be working at McDonalds your whole life.” Adele quickly retorted, “I’ll be the CEO of McDonald’s!”

Just since Christmas she has decided to give Decca a go. She’s a little late to the game, but her friends are helping her and she is going for it. I think she will compete in hospitality management, at least that was her direction as of this past week. I’m proud of her for talking something new and unfamiliar. This is characteristic of her this past year.

She is the co-chair of the youth board for Choice Humanitarian, a local humanitarian organization. This entails helping at Choice events, but it is also a fundraising endeavor. They meet monthly, and then before a fundraising event those meetings are weekly. She organizes the board members and leads the meetings.

This year she is in charge of the girl’s camp at church. The stake and ward leaders want the young women to develop leadership abilities, so they assist, when needed, but the young women plan the camp. This year they chose one leader, Adele, to oversee all other committees. Adele is totally capable of this. It will really rev up over the next few months.

And then there is SAT prep. She’s got big decisions for her big future ahead!

Lastly, for today, Adele has a great group of friends. They are all smart, high-achieving young women, all on the petite side, and a powerful force. They all have a great style and love to shop together; they love Pho Soup and Coffee Houses (Adele is a big hot drink lover and loves herbal teas); she meets her friend Sami for yoga once a week and they all study together, sometimes over Facetime until the wee hours of the night.

To be continued…