Who Am I?

At the beginning of each school semester it seems like we’re always asked about who we are. We have to boil down our identity into a few paragraphs of writing and it’s deeply challenging to summarize my character, ambitions, motivations, and experiences in under a thousand words. For my journalism class, sure enough, I was asked last week to create a piece on who I am, so I thought I’d share what I came up with:)

Who am I? Why don’t we like this question? Why does it make us so uncomfortable? We love to talk about ourselves as humans, yet we struggle sometimes with verbalizing what comprises our identity. I have many answers for who I am, but ultimately I am a child of God.

I have many interests, life experiences, and relationships that could ‘define’ me; however, my identity lies within my Creator. When I base who I am not off of worldly things and opinions of others in this fallen world, but rather on a God who is Holy and perfect, gracious, loving, encouraging, and protective, I am able to live my life in the way it was intended. I am able to start anew each day without fear of failure or not measuring up, because I can find peace and hope in the comfort that my God is for me and within me and cannot sin against me.

My true identity rests always first and foremost in the Lord, but elements of who I am and who He made me to be, are that I am a creative individual who loves to capture beautifully raw moments in the world around me. I am a photographer and videographer, and my passion lies in sharing stories with the world through my camera lens. Everywhere I look, I see photos.

I also am an avid traveler, and I want to spend the rest of my life seeing the farthest corners of the wonderful and wild world my Creator lovingly crafted. I am someone who is goal oriented, focused, and driven on self improvement and I love to learn about new ideas, take up new skills, and meet new people.

I love the outdoors, taking hikes, doing yoga, sitting at coffee shops and people watching, cooking, and exploring any environment around me and capturing it in its fullest form. I also am a friend, a sister, a daughter, and I deeply care about the friendships and family who support and encourage me daily.

Since much of my life is based around the beauty in God’s creation, I am very passionate about environmental concerns and am committed to doing my part in being a compassionate global citizen and living sustainably and raising awareness about environmental issues. 

As for where I am from, I am extremely lucky to be from a place deeply connected to nature and rooted in the beauty God created.

I am from Palm Beach, Florida, home to pristine beaches, glistening water, winding nature trails, and dense mangrove forests. I have traveled to places like Iceland and Norway and yet my home town remains one of the most special places to me. Growing up in South Florida is not just a privilege due to its innate beauty, but this environment has shaped my love for protecting vulnerable places in the natural world that suffer from human intervention and has shaped my desire to pursue photography and videography full time.

I have spent much of my life surfing, boating, swimming in the ocean at sunset, laying in hammocks between the palm trees and reading books, jumping off bridges into the icy blue water below, swimming with sharks, camping on nearby islands, and skateboarding on the beach road. These experiences are such gifts and have enabled me to make captivating videos and take photographs with my camera and my drone that inspire others and spark their attention. 

One day, my dream is to work for National Geographic and be a photographer or a documentary filmmaker, bringing light to far places in the world and conveying the magnificence of diverse places to others.

I believe my global travel experience, growing up in my coastal hometown, interest in the natural world, and passion for using my camera to document unique moments will allow me to bring diverse ideas and viewpoints to any community I find myself in. My desire to communicate relevant issues in our world through digital media and my commitment to growing my skills will enable me to hopefully one day show people what is occurring on the world stage in a compelling and meaningful way.