Emma is currently in the 11th grade, enrolled at Ripon High school. She was voted and announced junior class Vice President this year in February.This will be her second year being the class Vice President, as well as second year in leadership. Despite all of the challenges the world is facing right now, she promises to still put in her 100% effort into everything she does. Due to Covid-19 that shut down the whole country in March, Emma gained a lot of knowledge and self awareness while being cooped up in her home. She realized that there is more to life than just pleasing others and doing what makes other people happy. She decided along her journey of finding herself, that she should focus on what makes her happy, and not what makes other people happy. She started focusing on herself, getting closer with her friends and family while on lockdown. She says, “my favorite parts of quarantine were finishing puzzles with my dad, playing Crazy-8s on iMessage with my cousins, baking with my mom, riding the quad to the cows every day with my brother, and the excitement of seeing my friends and grandparents occasionally.” Due to a worldwide pandemic she says our natural instinct is to “worry of the uncertain”, and that is how she came up with her slogan, “Live more, worry less”. In a world full of uncertainty she says, “we never know when our last day on this earth will be, we never know what tomorrow holds, and we never know what could happen within seconds from each other, so why waste your time worrying.” Emma occupies her time with her favorite hobbies, doing what she loves. She is involved in leadership, FFA, clubs at school, and raising her own cattle at home. She also spends most of her time being a nanny for a family down the road. She has been their main babysitter for about 2 years now, and has been there through every step of the way for both children, Ella and Enzo. Both Ella and Enzo have taught her selflessness and how to find light in every situation. She says her favorite part of the afternoon with the kids is watching Enzo’s face light up when Paw Patrol comes on the TV and Ella’s giggle when she puts a pair of glasses on. She says, “I feel like their second mom, from teaching Enzo how to walk when he was 1, and now potty training him at age three, time really does go by fast.” Emma loves to also be a part of her brother and dad’s cattle business that was started 2 years ago. Going from 3 cows to now 8, it has sparked some interest in the veterinary world for Emma. She is not quite sure what she wants to do with her life, but she is currently researching and interested in large animal vets. Her favorite parts of raising cattle are obviously the day the calves are born, and the show days. She says, “nobody else knows the feeling of traveling to a cattle show unless you show cattle, but if you were to ask me what that feeling was, I couldn't tell you, I just know.” Out of the 8 cows that her family owns, she officially owns 2 of them, Dolly, who is pregnant, and her steer that she will be showing in June, McGraw. Despite being a nanny, and raising cattle, she also loves to travel, design spaces, go to church and to be the best person she possibly can. She says, “If I could have one wish in the world, it would have to be, to have a life just like Joanna Gaines. She lives on a farm, owns her own business, and has a big family.” After high school, Emma is not sure what she wants to do, however, she is interested in going to college out of state, perhaps Oklahoma State. She says, “if you are thinking about moving out of state, college is the perfect time, if you hate it, you can always come back home.” One of Emma’s idols is Sadie Robertson, her favorite quote from her that she is inspired by is, “When we’re afraid, we have a tendency to pray and ask God for peace before we’ll step out and do what frightens us. But most of the time, we simply need to move forward.” She says, “When we’re afraid, we have a tendency to pray and ask God for peace before we’ll step out and do what frightens us. This part sticks out to me because it relates to my slogan for this year, to live more, worry less. We have the tendency to hide back behind God or our shield to be safe and eventually never really live. We find ourselves always asking for approval and never really living the life we want to live. In the next part of her quote she says, “but most of the time, we simply need to move forward.” Moving forward is our breaking point in life, it is the part of life where you can cut those heavy weights off , and run. Once we quit hiding behind everyone, waiting for approval, we have the potential to live the life we were meant to live.” Emma Phelps has focused on living the best life she possibly can, and being the best person she possibly can, because we are never promised another day.