Tarah attended MCC in the spring while finishing up her 300 & 400 level correspondence classes, and went to ASU in the fall (adding all the many credits to her permanent Oklahoma transcript upon completion in December).  Oklahoma was where she started college, and it was where she intended to finish. She learned ballroom dancing from one of the country’s best, Larry Caves (via ASU), and became USAG safety certified so she could continue coaching at the gym (this time with all the same credentials as the other compulsory level coaches).  Again she performed with the Val Vista Show this year and was also recorded as a featured singer as part of a Celebrity Christmas CD to benefit the victims of 9/11. As the year closed, her family gave her a festive “hanging up the grips” party at her favorite Scottsdale Café to celebrate the official end to a long and fulfilled chapter of her life (Retiring from the sport as the highest ranked current gymnast in either Oklahoma or Arizona).

      Tarah spent the first half of this year accomplishing Life goal #3.  She went back to the University of Central Oklahoma for her final semester of her Senior year in college.  She lived in the dorms and thoroughly enjoyed the collegiate experience. She looks back fondly at all the awesome experiences and opportunities she has had thus far…the kinds of things not everyone has the occasion (or even the desire) to do.  But she had done it, done it well, & now planned (with the long hours of hard-core gymnastics and dance training over) to fully soak up and enjoy life for a whole semester as a completely normal college student. Well…sort of.  (If Tarah only knew the definition of Normal). She played Harp for the Opera, “The Merry Widow,” won the entire school’s annual talent competition w/ her ribbon dance performance, was invited with her Spanish dance to open for the “Mr. UCO” competition, auditioned for the musical “TEXAS” (in Norman, OK--which she drove to in a snow storm no less; the car actually doing a bit of a 180 degree as it slid off the road (fortunately no accident)), choreographed the college production of the musical, “Baby,” wrote a complete novel for Author Jeri Cook’s professional writer’s class, and did her seventh consecutive Val Vista show during spring break when she went home to Arizona for vacation.  She had articles appearing about her almost weekly in one newspaper or another.  Plus, she swam, baked, danced, shopped, bowled, jogged, went to the movies, and slumber partied with all of her dorm friends—all while maintaining straight-A’s.  She was living the college life and loving it! 

      May 10th, Tarah graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Studies of the Liberal Arts and Sciences.  For graduation, she purchased, “Pokey”—her Lime Green Volkswagen New Beetle (which she’d been wanting ever since the year it came out).  She had snagged a co-leading role in “TEXAS”, (the musical she auditioned for in March--one of over 1100 applicants the director had to choose from), & beginning May 12th and running through August 17th, she was at the Palo Duro Canyon Amphitheatre outside Amarillo, performing what "Time Magazine" billed as, “The #1 best attended outdoor theatre in the Country.” She packed up all her college things, and had only one day to load the car, get out of the dorms, drive to her new location, set up in a new apartment, and arrive at rehearsals on time for her 1st away-from-home, long-term, performing job! She performed all summer long with the troop as one of the top billed members of the TEXAS cast, and played to a total of over 130,000 people. The Amarillo newspaper and television station, as well as the magazine Accent West, all quote “found” her (as is usual) within a couple of weeks.

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