Shay Blount (2024)

21/04/2024

got your whole life ahead of you, you’re only 19

21/04/2024

all my luv

07/04/2024

spring things

31/03/2024

a very happy month full of all of my favorite people

26/03/2024

bury me at independent bakery pls

18/03/2024

shoutout to all my leprechauns

15/03/2024

Thanksgiving weekend during my senior year, I opened an email from the University of Georgia, and I didn’t see fireworks. I saw “deferred”. It was just a few words updating me, but I let those words define me. May came around and so did regular decision. I opened a second email, and I still didn’t see fireworks. My heart dropped. I was waitlisted from my top school. Going to any school other than UGA hadn’t been something I thought I would have to consider. It was the death of a dream. I committed to Alabama and changed my mindset. I couldn’t be defined by circumstances or a victim of things that happen, but I could change my outlook. I still hadn’t received any news on graduation day. I walked across the stage while my family cheered, and all I could do was smile because I knew that no matter what happened, they would be proud of me. Later that night, I watched as my three best friends took a photo together and a mom yelled “Georgia girls!”That was the first time I cried over UGA. I cried and cried because I thought it was the end of an era. It felt like everything I had done those four years of high school was for nothing. May 24th is now my favorite day of the year. I was coaching a swim practice when my mom rushed up behind me crying. She was shaking so badly I could barely make out what it said, but I still saw the words clear as day, “You have been accepted to the University of Georgia for Fall 2023.” Now, maybe you won’t somehow get in off the waitlist or end up at the school that you had always dreamed of but I say all this to encourage you. Your value is not determined by college decisions in the slightest. I know that it actually would have been okay if I hadn’t ended up at UGA, but more importantly I know that my family and friends don’t love me just because I’m a student at the University of Georgia, but because they love me for me. My family and friends wore Alabama gear and screamed “roll tide” for 3 months because they were going to support me at whatever college I was attending. You have so much value. If no one else tells you today, I’m so proud of you, and I love you so much 🤍🤍