VIDALIA —Lily Sims, 14, is ready for high school because it puts her one step closer to college and her dream.

“I want to go to California and go to the University of California at Los Angeles,” said Sims, an eighth-grade student at Vidalia Junior High. “I have always wanted to be a paleontologist and study the history of bones and dinosaurs.”

With As and Bs on her report cards, Sims said it is important to get good grades if you want to achieve your goals in life.

“It should be a huge priority for kids my age,” she said. “If you want to do anything with your life, you have to be able to concentrate on it, and that starts with school.”

With junior high almost out of the way, Sims said she is looking forward to the bigger challenges of high school.

“I know that academically, the curriculum is going to be harder,” she said. “But I am ready for it. I like to be challenged.”

Sims said she especially loves to be challenged on the golf course, a place you can find her at most days after school.

“Playing golf just really helps me clear my mind,” she said. “It is not a team sport. Everything you do revolves around what your efforts are. You are independent.”

Sims is pretty good at the game too, as her best score on 18 holes of golf is a 76.

“I wish I could make something bigger out of this than just a hobby,” she said. “I started when I was 7, and I plan to stick with it.”

Sims is also vice president of the school’s chess club and said the challenging activity is a great way for her to think and focus.

“I love going through all the different strategies that there are,” she said. “It’s fun to use my brain and think of the different moves.”

If she is not golfing of playing chess, Sims said her other pastime is reading all kinds of literature.

“I love poetry. There is just something about how fluent it is,” she said. “The words all flow together and they sound so good.”

Sims said many days when she gets home from school you she often spends her time reading Stephen King novels.

“I love horror books,” she said. “Instead of something that is happily ever after, you get conflict and a more interesting story.”

Even though she prefers to read horror, when she writes, Sims said fantasy or science fiction takes the cake.

“I really like writing. I am really good at it,” she said. “It is easier to put what you are thinking on paper, and I have always wanted to be able to express myself on paper with no limitations.”

Sims said she is ready for the next chapter in her life.

Lily Sims is the daughter of Shannon Sims and Lonnie Milton and Todd Sims.