Alanna Morton Dear Professor Campbell/ Mr. C, Big Dawg/ various other nicknames,

I greatly appreciate you so warmly welcoming me to your writing class. My name is Alanna Morton and I am from Orange, Connecticut. I love running and carrots, weird as that may sound. Fun fact: I actually run 18 miles a day at the school gym on campus (ask any of the workers there!) and also medically overdosed on carrots because I ate so many (the 5lb bags purchased from BJS and Costco). I overdosed on the carotene in the carrots so my hair began to fall out, I had blood tests taken and my liver enzymes were off the charts, and yes shockingly my feet and hands and then even my face began to turn orange! I do not have a Twitter, and Instagram, a Vine, or a Tumblr, but I do still have my same Facebook from the 7th grade! I am not your typical teen or young adult. I like to think I am my own person because I am just that, simply me.

I always am up to try new things: I have done gymnastics, tap dance, jazz, soccer, softball, skiing, all star cheerleading cross country, and track. And although I run so much I just found that I am not a competitive person. I enjoy hobbies to be just for my leisure and enjoyment not for my success in someone else failure. Even if sometimes that may feel good! The enjoyment I get from running now is the ultimate runner high and the view and engagement in nature and in my own body.

Not to sound as if I am that ever so typical kiss bu** student who claims that they adore writing class and drones on about how it makes them express so much more than just words, but that is me. I have always really enjoyed writing. It may sound clich and maybe even sound redundant, but I dont care because it is the truth. Writing has always provided for something more than just a simple assignment due for an English class, but a way to better and more thoroughly look at something, anything really, in a whole new light.

Now, when I first opened up your letter on January 6th 2015 at exactly 9:03 p.m. I was and still am sitting here on the floor of the Baltimore airport charging my constantly dying (not so smart) smart phone. All the while I wait for my connecting flight to Charlotte to arrive since it has been delayed 2 hours the day before classes start. Lucky me!

Well, I like to try and think that I go with the flow and try and adapt to what may not be flowing so smoothly. Since I live in a small town in Connecticut I had a dream to attend UNC Charlotte because truthfully Ive always wanted to just get away from my normal everyday life at home. I didnt want to attend Southern Connecticut State University, or UCONN, or Eastern, or Central, even though I did get accepted by all of them. I took a road trip down South this past summer where I began in Maryland, Delaware, Georgia, Virginia, and then to the Carolinas. I remember when I first saw UNC, it sounds so corny, but I couldnt see myself attending any other school besides this one. I loved the architecture; the copious amount of foliage spread along the Mallard Creek Greenway, the fact that uptown is a bus ride away, and of course that shocking southern hospitality (that is no myth)! Most people ask me if I like this school and ask why I came all the way down here and that question really makes me laugh every time because how could you not love everything this school stands for EXCEPT for maybe the out of state tuition!

Another reason I had my heart set on this school was for my own reassurance. I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 4. I was put on the insulin pump at age 6 and remained on it until my junior year of high school. My junior year I became very health obsessed and began to run immense amounts every day on top of all-star cheerleading practices. I had lost a lot of weight and at the end of my junior year I was running a tedious 20 miles everyday. I was convinced I would get people to begin giving me money for every mile I ran and I would give the money to cancer or ALS Foundation, both of which I have family members that struggle against the diseases. I still run at the least 15 miles everyday and still love every second of it. But, going

Alanna Morton through that time of weight loss began to conflict with my control of diabetes. I began having seizures uncontrollably and found myself waking up in the hospital numerous times. I had to learn how to adapt for my own well being in order for myself and to be able to handle being alone in college. I was determined to prove to not only my worried parents, but also to myself that I could go to a college of my choice 750 miles away from home and control my diabetes and not let it control me or my fate. And that is the story of how I ended up here.

My family has been there for me every step of the way. Some people act as though my dad, William (or Billiam as we all like to call him), and I could be long lost brother and sister because we are so close and look so alike. Then there is my mom, Kim (or Timmy as we like to call her) tend to butt heads a lot, but I know its because she is a roaring mother hen. My sister, Lindsay (Linzo as I like to call her and she hates), and I are the kind of sisters that could go months without talking, but once we get together again it is like nothing changed at all. Lastly, there is my grandma, Cynthia (who we all call grandma or cutie), who has got to be the most sweet and loving woman I have ever known at a healthy and amazing 93 years old. And then I would have to say my boyfriend of 4 years, Damon, has practically been adopted into my family because he is always at all the family events and I am not going to lie everybody thinks we could be brother and sister too

(YUCK).

I have never let anything stop me from achieving something I have had my heart set on.

Among other things I really enjoy working. I work as a waitress at IHOP and have met one of my best friends, Leah, there. Working has taught me you cant always get what you want, you will need to deal with difficult situations in life, and you will always need to work for what you want because nothing is going to be handed to you. But, I have also learned that there is a way to enjoy the process that leads up to what you want when you can make friends along the way and learn things that you can carry on for a lifetime.

Billiam Timmy Linzo Cynthia Damon

Leah

Alanna Morton Professor Campbell, I enjoy sitting back and reflecting on my life and then thinking about

how it might sound to you or how your life story makes you sound to me. I am really looking forward to this class and not only do I plan to hopefully write just as appealing pieces that you obviously write (due to your success in writing novels and other things), but to also discover more about myself in the long run. I want to and will strive to better my writing skills not only to obtain As and Bs, but to improve my skills in writing that I can carry on with me to other classes and places in life.

Finally, I want to thank you for being such a pleasure already because you chose to present yourself as a welcoming, stern, fun yet serious-about-your-work-kind-of-professor. I am really looking forward to this class, Ill see you when we pass paths floatin through the riverbed!