During the Fall Semester break, Rainey Frank did what many students did?she left town as soon as possible. That was at midnight on Thursday.
Against her concerned parents? wishes, Frank and her boyfriend drove into the deserted darkness and headed for Lake Powell.
“We would get there that much sooner,” insisted Frank, a 24-year old senior.
To Frank, life should be experienced diving in headfirst and asking questions later, even though she may have regretted some of her decisions.
One such decision was when she decided to move out two years ago. She had wanted to move away from home to live with her best friend, three girls and a guy. The problem was she didn?t have any money.
“I can do what I want,” Frank recalled thinking. “I can stay out late?I just want to experience it.”
She did move out, only to move back home three months later.
Another major decision came at the age of 19. Frank?s then boyfriend persuaded her to get baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“I didn?t research it,” said Frank, who is now a member only on paper. “It was pretty much an impulse.”
Later, she made what she considers to be one of her bigger mistakes, one that would change her forever?she got married. Only 22 at the time of the marriage, Frank was divorced after a year.
“We were just incompatible,” Frank realized. “We were really good when we weren?t [living] together.”
Older, wiser and more independent, Frank is now focused on her graduation next year. However, having to move back home again after her divorce has made Frank more concerned about her future.
“I worry about not being able to graduate,” she said. “I?ve slacked off this semester. I worry sometimes about getting another job when I get out?something halfway decent.”
Frank was born and reared in Salt Lake City, Utah. She spent two childhood years in Cardston, Washington and remembers the Mount St. Helen eruption that covered her town with two inches of ashes.
Although Frank?s mother is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and her father is Catholic, her parents gave her a long leash in her ideology.
Being one of two children and the only girl, Frank said she was also spoiled and used to getting things her way. She attributes her stubbornness to her mother, however.
“When I get an idea, nothing deters me,” Frank said. “I don?t care what people say. I do what I want.”
A lifelong outdoors enthusiast and animal lover, Frank is studying biology and will be applying to veterinarian school next year. However, she is a little concerned about chances.
“It?s a little harder to get into vet school now,” Frank explained.
Her backup plan is to study for a master?s degree at Utah State University in wildlife biology, get her GPA up in the process and then apply for veterinarian school again.
Frank does want to marry again and have a family, but right now she is in no hurry.
“I would live with the person [and] make sure we?re compatible,” Frank said. “I don?t want to marry for a long time?I want to do the things I want, get myself going before I?m with someone else.”