<p>Miranda Burton grew up in an environment centered on helping children.</p>
<p>For as long as she can remember, her parents and grandparents opened their homes to foster children. Kids were always coming and going, Burton said.</p>
<p>By the time Burton got to Edinburgh Community High School, she had her sights set on a career helping children. In order to achieve her goals, she knew college would be necessary.</p>
<p>Burton was never a perfectionist, but she has cried when receiving a grade lower than an A-, she said. Her work ethic in the classroom earned her the honor of being named salutatorian honors of her class.</p>
<p>“I take pride in doing well,” Burton said.</p>
<p>“When I heard I was No. 2 in my class I was excited. I just thought I would be somewhere close to the end of the top 10 in my class.”</p>
<p>Burton hasn’t decided on a major, yet. Simply deciding where she wanted to go to school was tough enough, she said.</p>
<p>She was accepted to Franklin College, IUPUI, Ball State, Hanover and Indiana University. In the end, she chose to attend IU-Bloomington, and plans to work toward a degree that will allow her to teach or work as an education psychologist, she said.</p>
<p>Burton chose Indiana University because of the different types of degrees she could earn for a career helping kids, she said.</p>
<p>Working with kids as a peer mentor opened Burton’s eyes to teaching, she said. If she decides to major in education, she hopes to work her way up from a teacher to one day being a school principal, she said.</p>
<p>“I developed a passion. The older I got, seeing kids in foster care, it made me want to help children,” Burton said.</p>
<p>“I want to form a bond with kids, work with them, learn their stories and understand.”</p>[sc:pullout-title pullout-title="Miranda Burton " ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p>Name: Miranda Burton</p>
<p>Age: 18</p>
<p>Parents: Mike and Laura Burton</p>
<p>Residence: Edinburgh</p>
<p>GPA: 4.17</p>
<p>College: Indiana University</p>
<p>Major: Undecided</p>
<p>Career goal: Work with children as a teacher or education psychiatrist</p>[sc:pullout-text-end]
