Dangerous Mission

We were trudging through five feet of tall grass. The soil was sinking beneath our weight. The land topography was anything but even, unexpected drops and rises caused us to panic and yell out to the other to be careful. Using our d-nets as make shift machetes we cut a path through the dense grass. Our destination, a part of the Wilson Creek. Science was about to take place.  

Exploring Oneself Through the Lens of Academia

            Food, work, gym, sleep, repeat. Unless it’s basketball season, in which case watching as many games as possible is thrown into the mix. I’d give reading its own spot if it weren’t for the fact that 99% of it ends up being related to one of the aforementioned facets of my life.  It’s a simple life and I thoroughly enjoy keeping it that way, mainly because it makes for optimal efficacy in each component. Every part receives my complete effort, especially food, and that in itself enables me to maintain a laser focus on any and every task (or meal) that I take on.

            

Let's Explore Some Stuff!

Some of my favorite things to do involve doing something new in a new place. Exploring a new park, a new restaurant, or even a new hobby. Yearning for the new became a struggle when I had to decide what was my absolute favorite thing to do, aka picking a major I would want for the rest of my life, that involved having to always learn new things in different places. This led to taking various kinds of classes from all different aspects when I was in community college. Taking these classes, I definitely found what wasn’t my favorite thing, but finding my favorite, not so easy. While there’s a lot to learn and keep learning from whatever major it is that you chose, I wanted a combination of the environment, new places, new things to explore, and being outside. I found a combination of all of that in geography.

Small talk to big questions

Winter

Windows condense with water that slowly forms frosty, crystalline patterns across the panes of glass. Steam swirls up in lazy spirals from a mug held by hands barely emerging from a warm blanket as the smell of wood smoke and the crackling sounds of a fire fill the room. Winter’s chill is held at bay.

Spring

The scent of freshly turned dirt is in the air as a shovel rips through the earth. Dandelions and nettles lay limp in a wheelbarrow as herbs and vegetables find new homes in the black dirt. The sound of a hose hisses through the air as sweat drips from tired brows. The seeds have been sown and soon summer will bring ripened fruit.

Into the Wild

My entire life I have questioned everything, always that annoying kid who wouldn't accept a simple "because" for an answer. I have always wondered why we do the things we do. Whether it's why people stuff their animals from hunting and hang them on their walls, to why we have to dress nice for church if God loves us for who we are. Whenever I've asked these questions, I have always received stern looks from my elders that were intended to discourage me from being skeptical about the way things are. This constant skepticism and desire to understand how the world works has caused me to love reading books. Being inside someone's head, seeing how they see the world, and feeling/understanding things from their perspective/situation has always been my passion. My favorite book I've read, I read in high school. It was "Into the Wild," by Jon Krakauer.

Let's Get Physical: A Handbook for Tactile Learners

            For as long as I can remember, all things I have ever truly loved doing have always involved some measure of getting dirty and sweaty.  From playing in (and eating) the dirt in my mother’s garden as a chubby 2-year-old to hot days of breathing in the scent of horses and saddle soap as a young equestrian and finally to my love of running and hiking today, I have always been most happy when I am completely immersed in the physical environment around me.

A sociologist, an anthropologist, and an economist walk into a bar.

I love garage sales.  I love the feeling of unearthing a treasure, and not just a bargain, but something with its own stories.  An inscription on the front cover of a book, the idea of wearing a shirt that someone else wore while hugging their best friend goodbye, or a trinket that was picked up on a special vacation- I love the physicality of those things.  I think it’s sweet that humans collect stuff… what funny soft animals we are to accumulate these bits and pieces that appeal to our senses and surround ourselves with them.