We ferry out of here the day after tomorrow. What a sad ending that will be. I've been having a grand time out here. Time to play. Time to relax. Time to enjoy the company of my colleagues and make some memories. This place really has done something for me and I'm so grateful. I graduated college this year. Graduating was a monumental moment for me. I spent the first year of college struggling to keep my head above water. I refused to take out loans and instead juggled three jobs while being a full time student. Needless to say, I basically failed. I simply didn't understand the difficulties of living on my own or going to college. Maybe I assumed that it would be easy the way high school had been for me. I thought I could just bullshit my way through and come out alright on the other side. That hypothesis did not reign true. I remember bailing out to a tech school for a year before returning to complete my Associates. With the Associates complete, I still didn't have a clue what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted a Bachelors and I knew I wanted to make a difference on the environmental front. Not knowing quite what I wanted, I took a semester off to live on a farm on the Big Island of Hawaii. This was one of the greatest decision of my life. I made friends, healed from my destructive relationship and got some perspective on who I wanted to be. I realized that who I wanted to be and what I wanted to do was completely up to me. I was the one in control of my life. I have to give credit to all the friends I made on the Big Island and all those who became family. I had a wonderful time with all of you and you taught me so much. I cried when I left and I still think of those people I left all the time. I knew I still had a lot to learn, but instead of being scared and uncertain, I was excited. I flew back home to Utah after a wondrous four months and continued my schooling at Utah State University, majoring in Conservation and Restoration Ecology (this was eventually changed to Environmental Studies a year before I graduated). Now two years and a Bachelors Degree later, here we are. Spending the last couple nights on the beautiful Heron Island before I return to my not-so-perfect job in Alaska. I get stuck on what I'm going to do with the rest of my life a lot, but this experience on the Heron Island as well as my experience thus far in Alaska is helping me find that direction I need. I know I want to help the environment and the people of this planet. I know I want to facilitate change and growth. I know I want to be on the front lines, the activist, the educator, the doer. My job in Alaska has shown me the path that leads me away from that and my experience here on the island has given me a little push towards that. Life is all one big experience, one big journey and I think it's alright to make mistakes. To admit that you made the wrong call and make the changes necessary to get back on track. I think a lot of the next few years are going to be trial and error for me. Finding my niche, letting my passion fuel me and never giving up. I intend to go forward excited and open-minded, not try so hard to control every step. I'd like to allow the opportunities to come as they do and be prepared for them when they arrive.
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About MeAn educated outdoor enthusiast with a passion for the planet and all its inhabitants, I wish to be a liaison between the scientific world and the public. I believe that knowledge and compassion are the keys to understanding and bettering our complex existence on this beautiful Earth. Archives |