I grew up the beautiful area of Lake County Illinois. Enshrouded in trees, fields, and lakes, it is truly a magnificent place. It is green there as far as the eye can see which one learns to appreciate after moving to the desert. I have always had a deep connection to nature and all the life it holds. There has always been a sense of wonder for me even when just simply looking out the window. My mother always pointed out the wonder of the natural world to me whether it was in an interesting-looking bug, a colorful bird, or the “painted skies” as she likes to call the sunrise and sunset. This feeling was amplified on a day that I will never soon forget, because it changed my outlook on life completely.
I was eighteen years old and fresh out of high school, the world was my oyster. I enrolled in College of Lake County and got an after school job at K.B. Toys. Life was great, as far as I knew. I had a few really close friends that I would always go hiking, camping, or traveling to see music with. I loved my life; I had never felt so free before. Then, one faithful day, my boss at K.B. Toys accused me of stealing $200 from the register. I had never done such a thing in my life! Also, I am a firm believer in the Golden Rule “do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” Since I was the newest employee there, nothing I could have said would have made them believe me. Then I remembered that someone had asked me for a lot of change that day and kept making me count it. I thought it was weird but since I was new there, I didn’t want to act like I couldn’t handle a situation. So, I told my boss about that and at first he did not believe me (however, the short-changer got other stores in the mall that day as well, so they eventually found out I did not steal that money). However, at this point I was still the number one suspect and also was possibly out of a job.
I was hysterical on my drive home, which I normally really enjoyed the relaxing scenery. All of a sudden, a June bug (a giant maroon beetle) flew through my car window and hit me right in the neck. I thought I had been shot! I was screaming and crying. Could this day really get any worse? What did I do to deserve this? Finally, I pulled over and saw the little bugger on my pant leg. At least I had not been shot, I thought. At that moment I looked up and realized that my favorite road to drive down (Bacon Road) was completely torn up with construction, I was so upset about work I hadn’t even noticed. The farms were gone, the animals were gone, and all that was left was tilled up dirt. I looked ahead; surely they did not cut down the most beautiful oak tree in the area that was right by the road side, there would be no reason for it. It was the perfect tree, completely symmetrical, exquisite in every season. They had cut it down. I answered my own question, that day could get worse. After I had seen this awful, depleted sight, it was the only thing I could think about. I decided that I hate retail, I loathe the idea of money. Why was I working in a toy store? I wished I would have taken pictures of that tree, but now it was too late. Now anyone who had not seen that tree would never get to, and literally, that hurt my heart. This was happening all over the world every single day. I realized that I could do something about it. I declared my major as photography at CLC, and decided that I was going to take pictures so that people could see how beautiful the world around them really is. I graduated from CLC in 2005 with an Associate’s Degree in Art. And that August I moved to Arizona to attend Arizona State University.
While getting my degree in Photography I thought to myself, “Do I really just want to graduate with a degree in photography? What is the one thing that I care about the most in life? That is what I should be doing for a living.” I contemplated this idea long and hard and figured out the answer. The Earth was the most important thing in my life (and in reality it should be in everyone’s) because without the world around you, there is no you. It is literally the one thing that no one can live without. So I looked into it. I remembered the words my parents always told me “if you want something in life, all you have to do is get up and get it.” If you want something bad enough, you’ll do it. I am a firm believer that what you think is what you get. You can make a situation excellent or miserable depending on the way you look at it. One thing I pride myself in is trying to stay positive and always trying to make the best of a situation (I recommend jokes and high-fives to lighten the mood).
I found the Interdisciplinary Department at ASU and it sounded like exactly what I needed. I could get a degree in Conservation Biology to save the things that can’t save themselves, and also a degree in Art History with an emphasis on Photography so that I could show people what it is I was saving. It was almost too good to be true. I was blown away that there was really a job where I could be outside actually doing field work, getting my hands dirty and also keep record of my accomplishments with photographs and hopefully spreading the message of conservation with them as well.
I am less than a year away from graduating and I have never felt so on track before. I really get the sense that I finally figured out my life and what I want to happen in it. I just know that this is exactly what I am meant to do. I have such empathy for things that I can not even begin to explain. Whenever I see anything happy or sad, I literally feel it in my heart. I am not doing this so that I can be recognized as some famous scientist; I am doing it so that the world around us can have a chance to be seen and experienced, not just remembered as something that was there in the past. I believe that the world as a whole needs to wake up and realize that what is happening to the innocence of nature around us, is from us! My goal is not to get a job that will make me rich; it is to protect the things that I loved the most in the world, to do something that makes my heart happy. That is all the reward that I need. One of my favorite quotes says it all, “Take nothing but photographs, and leave nothing but footprints” and that is exactly the way I intend to live my life.