Mid-Carolina High School Senior - Lauren Cope

When Cole and I moved to Newberry in 2016, I would’ve never thought I would become a Young Life leader, and I definitely had zero idea how much I would come to love these students with whom I get to work. Lauren Cope is one of my high school girls who I’ve gotten spend so much time with over these past two years.

If anyone knows this random stranger that photo bombed our shoot, please enlighten me!

I affectionately call her my “taller mini-me.”

Also, I’m still over here trying to figure out how to make my curls look this good.

Lauren has become one of my closest high school friends. We’ve shared a lot of memories together - summer and winter camps, campaigner weekends, lots of waffles and coke, afternoons playing board games, and evenings spent in rocking chairs. There have been a few tears but three times as much laughter.

It was a treat getting to spend the afternoon with Lauren and her mom, Mrs. Emily! We even ate tacos and sushi for dinner, so it was pretty much the best. I truly treasure this day in my memory bank.

This coming fall, Lauren will be living out her dream and is headed to Clemson University. Of course I’ll miss her dearly, but I’m really excited to see her follow her heart and God’s calling. She’s passionate, driven, and got her head on straight, so she’ll be mighty fine out there in the real world.