Amber+Keyes

=Amber Keyes = One of my favorite things to do is set goals and pursue them until I have not only completed the task and achieved the goal, but attained highest honors and awards doing so. I love to learn and school has almost come easy to me so scraping by with a B is not my style. Each semester I sit down and set realistic goals for the semester. Some goals I’ve set and achieved are graduating from high school with a 4.0, planning and securing an internship in New York City, attaining 4.0 in college, and becoming the president of my honorary. I believe everything I do is a statement to the world of who I am, and I do my best to always put my best face forward. Before I was born I was “kissed by an angel.” Although most people think I’ve gotten a bad beating or some sort of rash, I have a port-wine stain birthmark on the left side of my face over my eye that penetrates all seven layers of my skin making it impossible to remove. University of Michigan Doctors with a state-of-the-art laser that can remove any birthmark or tattoo cannot remove mine. They tried for three years and upon termination of surgery every last spot returned within four years, much to their chagrin. While most women spend countless hours in the salon trying to become blonde it comes naturally to me. My heritage is German and Swedish and I was Hitler’s dream baby with white hair and blue eyes my entire childhood. Despite the fact that “Blondes have more fun,” or “do it better,” I prefer to keep an earth-toned coif on my shoulders. Since my hair is so light naturally it doesn’t take well to color so I can change my hair practically with my mood. Within weeks my hair will go from dark brown to strawberry blonde and with a little sun it’s gold and shiny as ever. One of my first nicknames in high school was Sunshine. I picked up this nickname because I am always smiling and I tend to have a bright and shiny outlook in even the bleakest situations. My life has not been without challenge, but I am so thankful for everything good and bad because it has made me the hard-working, successful woman I am today. I want to help bring joy into other peoples’ lives and this is why I have studied psychology. I figure what I’ve learned will help me to banish the pain from someone’s life enough to make room for even one more laugh or smile. Nothing makes me happier than seeing other people smile. As I mentioned, I am an incredibly passionate about the things I pursue and I am strongly motivated to serve people—especially those in need. So much so that I’ve done countless missions and poverty outreach programs, one of which I actually planned and executed. In fact, at one point in high school I was set on joining the Peace Corps without even attending college, but later thought better of it. My hope is to return to Catholic Worker Maryhouse in New York City to live and work in a homeless shelter with a wage of twenty dollars a week. They do not own a computer any type of cell phone and they do not take any sort of government donations as they consider themselves an anarchist group against all forms of a government that ignores the needy. It seems slightly ridiculous to some, especially my family and my boyfriend, but even if temporarily I will be on what is known as a “Worker Tour” in the summer of 2009 until I find a better way to utilize my time and my talents.
 * __A is for Ardent__**
 * __M is for Marked__**
 * __B is for Blonde… or Brunette__**
 * __E is for Ebullient__**
 * __R is for Radical__**

