For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to be outside. One of my earliest memories is the sadness that I felt when I learned that while I was being put down for a nap everyday, my dad and sister were looking for fossils in Floyd's Fork. As I grew, I began to get out with my dad more and more. looking for frogs, snakes and salamander,s,in addition to fossils in the creekbeds, was all I wanted to do. When we started bringing fishing poles, I was really hooked (no pun intended). Something about fishing really had me in wanting more. Knowing I could be one cast or one minute away from the biggest bite I've ever had. This passion continued through middleschool into highschool. COVID had me at my lowest. so much of my joy and identity came from the people that I was hanging out with, so not being able to see them was rough. I questioned why this could happen and if I would really be ok at the end. During this time, I feel that I really started to understand the beauty of nature. Without a phone at the time to distract me, friends to mess with, or anything else, I was left with myself and the outdoors. My whole life, I loved catching critters and fish, but almost taking for granted the places I was doing these things at. With nothing to do durring COVID, almost everyday I would take a little walk to a creek in my neighborhood. Not big enough to catch smallmouth, but big enough to fully take in. They say that God is the best painter, and I really started to recognise it. The bugs I would find, the trees, the moss, the way the water flowed, It all seemed so random, yet so pourposeful. My Favorite outdoor experience however happened many years later. My sophmore year I was in an AP stats class with my friend Sam. I didnt know Sam at the time, but I Immediatly recognised there was something diffrent about him. While other kids would try to pass time looking at social media or playing some mobile game, Sam would pass time by talking to me. At first these conversations were surface level, " How are you" or "what'd you do this weekend" or something else that I would talk about with anyone else. Eventually he started to open up to me. Teaching me about what it means to be a man in a non judgemental, real, and bibical way. Moving on to my junior year and Sam's friends are my friends. They were all a year older than me, but I looked up to these guys because they would do things that I didn't see myself able to do. They would climb cliffs and jump off ledges into lakes and just go on roadtrips to some random park to spend the weekend together. Well I finally got invited to one of these outings and it was more fun than I could have imagined. I got a text from Sam, "wanna hang up a rope swing this weekend?" I instantly agreed. We drove up to Harrod's creek with nothing but 30 feet of rope. For hours we just swam, laughed and didnt worry about school the next day. That was my favorite outdoor experience because it brought together the most fun I've ever had with some of the best friends I've ever made.