For most high school students, waking up and going through the typical motions of an eight hour school day is a habit. Certain students, however, have the drive and passion to ensure their high school experience is different than those around them. Senior Grace Bales falls under this category, and used the experience she gained from CAPS to get into her dream school, University of Mississippi.

“It was really important for me to go to a big public university to give me the college experience,” Bales said. “I hope it will challenge me both academically and socially. Ole Miss is so similar to my personality, yet so different so it allows me to feel comfortable, but also challenges me and what I believe in to help me grow.”

Bales was in CAPS, Center for Advanced Professionals program, for her entire junior year working on her own skin care line called “Rose Tide” and intends on continuing it throughout not only the duration of her senior year in CAPS, but also to her post-college experience. 

“I’m majoring in Entrepreneurship, and during college, I hope to continue to operate and grow my company so once I graduate I will have a head start,” Bales said. “And once I graduate from college, I hope that my company will have a foot in the door and that I will have my Masters of Business Administration, MBA and that I will be able to further my company.”

Throughout high school, Bales has tried her hardest to ensure she was getting the absolute most out of her classes and using any possible resources while also juggling having a job and being co-president of Young Democrats. Only taking classes that will help her once she is in college, Bales hopes to get as big of a jump start as possible on obtaining her long-term goal of a successful business. 

“I’m proud of her,” Te’a Tonnsen, a close friend of Bales said. “It’s her dream school and she’s worked extremely hard to be where she is. She’s one of the most driven people I know and she does it mostly without recognition. Many people don’t know how smart she actually is and how hard she actually works. I know that this school is going to help her go extremely far in life.”

Though Bales has been grateful for the experiences high school has given her, she was anxious to be accepted into the school. Once Bales had received the news of her acceptance, she immediately started crying tears of joy. 

“I was concerned when I first heard her crying,” Grace’s father, John Bales said. “But when I could finally understand what she was saying, I started crying as well.”

Grace was accepted to University of Mississippi in Sept. 2019, and is expecting to begin attending the college in the fall of 2020 with a major in Entrepreneurship. Through her hard work, Grace feels as though she has accomplished a large goal of hers, and wants to continue to meet the standards she has set for herself. 

“I’m so excited to have a fresh start,” Grace said. “To live my college experience to the fullest, join a sorority, make a ton of friends and I’m excited to be around like minded people that also challenge the way that I think so we can help each other grow as business owners.”