Graves senior learning from her experiences

“For the band, I’m the center snare, which means I cast the band on and off the field,” Lonsway said. “So that’s really cool. Everyone can hear me, I’m not just part of the group.

“Orchestra, I’m kind of just there to have fun and help out. I really enjoy music. I like learning it and performing for others. I like to write it even and I’ve won composition for academic team a couple of years.”

While it is mostly for fun, Lonsway has learned a lot from her band and orchestra experiences.

“They definitely taught me that not everything is going to come easy,” she said. “Especially in the band. You have to work toward a goal to get somewhere. Like, I’m auditioning for All-State in about two weeks. And I’ve put a lot of time and effort into it. And I don’t know if I’ll get it or not, but I know that I will go into my audition really prepared for that. And that’s something I will apply because that’s my life. I don’t know if I’ll get into anything, but I know that I’m going to be ready. I like to have things prepared and that’s something that band really taught me.”

In addition to music, Lonsway has a love for speech as well, serving as co-captain of the Graves County speech team.

“My role as a co-captain is really just to help others I suppose,” she said. “I’ve done all the different categories of things, like poetry, original, oratory, informative. I just really like the writing, not as much the acting … so if there’s a freshman that is doing the writing stuff, and needs help, coach Aaron might send them my way. I like to listen to other people’s — like the acting pieces, I just never participate in them.”

Speech has also helped Lonsway to break out of her shell.

“The whole thing has honestly helped me to talk to people,” she said. “Like this interview? I probably would never be able to get my point across without it. It’s also given me just a lot more confidence about talking to others.”

Lonsway’s main passion is broadcast and media arts.

“I help out as media arts director and primary editor for GCTV, our school news,” she said. “We have a studio and record the school news every day. It’s really cool and it’s my job to run most of it …. Basically, what the school sees out of GCTV is up to me, which is kind of a scary thought. But it’s really fun. I just enjoy what I do.”

Lonsway, daughter of BeaLinda Smith of Murray, is this week’s Murray State University Teen of the Week.

Each Tuesday, The Sun publishes articles on outstanding regional high school seniors. From the final 32 students chosen, one will be chosen as the Teen of the Year around the end of the school year. They will receive a $5,000 scholarship. A second student will receive the Inspiration Award and a $1,000 scholarship.

Lonsway plans to be a film and broadcast major in college.

She understands that she has worked hard to get where she is and to build her future, but her family and teacher’s support has helped her the most.

“Not everything is going to go your way,” she said. “You have to apply yourself. You have to try your best and you have to be prepared to not get exactly what you want. You have to understand that you have to be thankful for what you have more than what you could have had. I have a lot of people in my life to thank — Nick Miller, Aaron West, my mom, Richard Burchett and Shane Melvin. They have all helped me and none of them brought me down. They’ve never told me I can’t do something. I’m very thankful to them.”