Leslie Bledsoe

    At a very young age I dreamed of seeing the world--dreamed of being born a princess in some remote exciting country that I had learned about in history classes. I would stare spellbound at a map and realize how minute West Virginia was compared to the grandiose world waiting to be explored. As I matured and thought about what direction my life would take upon graduation from high school, I imagined myself in various fields of study that could take me to the places I had only dreamed about working on a cruise ship, serving as a flight attendant, or taking trips to Europe as a prominent businesswoman on my private jet! Upon finding the flier about the "Roads to Appalachia through Scotland, Ireland and Wales", I began to see the possibilities of those "silly" childhood dreams becoming a reality through the West Virginia Folklife Center. This was my chance and I wanted to seize it!

I am currently a Junior at Fairmont State University planning on graduating with a business degree in accounting. I've always enjoyed working with numbers, so this should be a good job for me. I grew up in a small town called Rivesville and moved to Fairmont during high school. I was an employee of The Cracker Barrel in Fairmont for 3 years and am currently working as a typist for Your Bulletin Board across from Wal-Mart. I have an older sister who graduated in 2003 from FSC and is an English/Literature teacher here in WV and a younger brother who will be graduating from high school this May. Makes me feel like I'm getting old! I think this trip would be extremely exciting, but even more, the many things I would see and learn would continue with me and be a nonexpendable investment in my future, both as a person and a businesswoman.

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page."

--City of God, 413-426--