Growing up, I would always snatch the camera out of my mom's hands and start taking pictures of her. My dad found it almost impossible to take videos of me before I asked if could look through the lens. I was fascinated by the world through a lens. I could see the sweet memories I made, if I caught it on a camera. As I grew older, I started discovering new tricks of a camera, such as zooming in without actually moving! This was a new discovery for my parents as well. I was never able to hold up our camera for more than 30 seconds, because it was old and large, and I was tiny, but that never stopped me. I would video tape things from the floor, stack books on top of each other to make a tripod, even use my little brothers as things to support the camera. Don't worry, no children were harmed! When I was 5, I got my first camera for Christmas. Well it was fake, but it didn't matter to me. I took it with me, everywhere I went and pretended to take pictures. Finally in 7th grade, I was able to take my first video production class. I was in the class that put on a live show every morning for the entire school. We also got to create videos for the show. Once I got to high school, I joined a beginners broadcast class, to refine my videography skills and to learn how to edit on softwares, such as Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere. We also learned how to use the main studio where the daily announcements were aired from. I eventually joined the class that put on the show everyday, and stayed in it for all three years. I was a part of the TBN Sports crew, where we created reels of past sporting events that occurred at Gunn. During my senior year, I was the Director of Social Media. I was able to promote our show using one of the most powerful tools our society uses to spread news. This was also the year I took a class on photography. We used an actual dark room to develop photos using film cameras. I always watched with amazement when the photos began to appear in the developer. The fact that a single moment was captured onto a white sheet of paper, still fascinates me. I was also part of the yearbook staff that year. I was a photographer and was able to learn how to filter and edit pictures properly. All of this knowledge on cameras, videography, and photography has made me realize that I'm in love with capturing happy moments. It's hard to know what's real without actually seeing it. With a camera, I can create proof that what you need to see is there. If anyone were to ask me where my happy place were, I would say that I would be on a plane, with a DSLR camera (that can take pictures and record videos), a laptop with editing software I like, and a ton of plane tickets to explore the world. I want to capture the beauty of the world and be able to look back and remember those precious moments.