Editor’s Note: Franklin’s Future is a regular feature spotlighting a high school senior in Franklin County and what they have planned for life after graduation.

Tharptown senior Casey Mitchell sees herself still in a classroom setting even after she struts across the stage to receive her high school diploma.

Mitchell, 18, will begin pursuing her career in Elementary Education by wiping out her basics at Northwest-Shoals Community College in Phil Campbell while taking advantage of the ambassador scholarship she received from there.

Casey Mitchell

After her two years at the college, Mitchell plans to hit the road, traveling north to finish out her collegiate career at the University of North Alabama in Florence.

“I’m just counting down the days to graduation so I can go ahead and get started in college,” she said. “I’m not so much scared, but more excited about taking another step towards my career.”

Mitchell said it took her awhile to find what she wanted to choose as a career path, but after working and being involved with an after-school program at the elementary level, she found her strength of patients and passion for kids to “ just kind of come out.”

Once her studies are complete, Mitchell would like to come back to Tharptown and teach students ranging from the kindergarten level to fourth grade.

“I’d like to either come back here or Russellville,” she said. “People here have always been friendly to me and it just feels like home to me.”

Mitchell said if the education field doesn’t pan out like she hopes, her plan-B includes the veterinarian field because of her love for animals.

Something friends and acquaintances may not know about Mitchell is that she has a fear of water.

“I still go swimming with my friends and I enjoy it for the most part,” she said. “I try to hide it as best I can, but on the inside I’m really nervous about something happening while I’m in the water.”

Mitchell said some of her hobbies, such as softball, could potentially leak over into her university experience, but the one thing that will definitely stick with her will be horse riding.

“I’ve rode horses my whole life it seems,” she said. “I enjoy competing in barrel races and pole bending competitions at the kid rodeo level. When I turn 19 on Feb. 2, if I still want to compete I’ll probably have to travel all over the place.”

Mitchell’s facial expressions lit up once the horse subject came into play and her passion for the sport really began to shine through.

“My family use to have seven horses but now we only have three. Their names are Sugar, Cash and Dixie,” she said. “Sugar is a quarter-horse palomino, Cash is a buck-skin Tennessee walking horse and Dixie is a paint-gated horse. My perfect day would be riding horses with my friends and family. I just love it.”

Mitchell’s passion for horses runs so deep, she said it has even crossed her mind once or twice about going pro in horse racing.

Mitchell believes, once in college, she will be able to balance her passion and studies.

Mitchell also has dreams of traveling the world one day, making sure to hit “beachy” spots like Jamaica as she trots across the globe. She said she will miss the teachers and people the most once she leaves Tharptown High School, but says “not to worry because I will be back to live close to family and friends, settle down, get married, have kids and live in the country.”

The old saying “You can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl” truly fits Mitchell as she anxiously waits to become a college student next fall.