Youngest of six — three girls, then three boys. Mom piled us into her van for picnics at Cades Cove in the Appalachian Mountains, wandering the tourist spots and soaking in the wild.

My brothers and I lived to hike the forests and swim the rivers — barefoot shenanigans that taught me to read the land long before I ever read a light meter.

Wrestling gear paid for with hay bales and barbed-wire fences. I cleaned schools beside my stepfather and walked miles of countryside selling magazines to raise money for my school.

Senior year, a military recruiter walked in. I joined for the promise of travel, healthcare, and a career — and, honestly, to chase adventure and step away from a toxic home.

I served in the Pacific Northwest, roaming the Hoh Rainforest, the Olympic National Forest, and Hurricane Ridge. My brothers and I even free-climbed a cliffside on the highest peak with nothing but 550 cord.

After my service I carried new struggles. A VA photography group pulled me back in, and the GI Bill sent me to Sessions College — certificates in Web Design and Digital Photography, with an Associate's in Digital Photography coming in April 2027.

There's something about standing inside creation that reminds me we're never truly alone. Its design is unfathomable — every frame I take is a small attempt to hold onto that beauty.