Miranda Burton grew up in an environment centered on helping children.
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.
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.
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.
“I take pride in doing well,” Burton said.
“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.”
Burton hasn’t decided on a major, yet. Simply deciding where she wanted to go to school was tough enough, she said.
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.
Burton chose Indiana University because of the different types of degrees she could earn for a career helping kids, she said.
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.
“I developed a passion. The older I got, seeing kids in foster care, it made me want to help children,” Burton said.
“I want to form a bond with kids, work with them, learn their stories and understand.”
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Name: Miranda Burton
Age: 18
Parents: Mike and Laura Burton
Residence: Edinburgh
GPA: 4.17
College: Indiana University
Major: Undecided
Career goal: Work with children as a teacher or education psychiatrist
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