Being a student athlete has put me onto the path of success by surrounding me with the people I want to be like. I am a varsity cross country/track athlete and one thing that all of these athletes in this sport share is determination. In the classroom and on the track, we work hard to reach whatever level of success we are reaching for. In my case this success turned into a dream of photography when I was unable to pursue my collegiate recruitment dreams. I started photography because I needed something to keep me connected to my sport after being diagnosed with a grade three oblique muscle tear in March of 2023. I was informed that it would be in my best interest to not exercise until December of that year, so I needed something that could distract me from the distress and sadness that came with that information. Utilizing the cheep equipment I had I turned my hobby into an on and off job that let me travel around the state of California, and has even brought me to a few surrounding states, all while being in high school. I chose Cal Poly Slo as the school to continue on specifically, because I was lucky enough for their track and cross country programs to come to me to ask for help. I was blessed to meet with the coaches multiple times in person and they finally asked me to be the head media producer and team manager for their programs so this helps me to continue that dream of working with media. I want to become an entrepreneur because I have always wanted to become my own boss, but I have also wanted to be able to travel around and support everyone I can with my business. Being a media producer that can do both photo and video aspects of the job allows for me to help almost any business. I can do marketing, I can advertise, I can direct, all while having the freedom I have always desired along with creative control. I believe I can turn this dream job into a successful one as well because I have people supporting me on this journey. I am self taught so far and haven't yet had people teach me the fundamentals/important aspects of this pathway, but once I have 4 more years of training with actual classes, and meet real life connections, I am positive I can turn this into a profession. Success doesn't always mean money for me however as I have a few goals I would love to achieve through this path. I want to work for the media team at the track and cross country world championships in the near future, I would love to work at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and I would love to be able to help market the sports surrounding running so more people enjoy it. Achieving those goals would be more successful to me than monetary gain.

I want a few things in life from my current standpoint. I want to help make my parents proud by at least achieving the four year, post high school degree, and I want it to lead me to a job I will love doing everyday. Luckily for me I am on that path currently as my hobbies have turned into a job for me that also led to academic opportunity. I started photography because I needed something to keep me connected to my sport after being diagnosed with a grade three oblique muscle tear in March of 2023. I was informed that it would be in my best interest to not exercise until December of that year, so I needed something that could distract me from the distress and sadness that came with that information. Utilizing the cheep equipment I had I turned my hobby into an on and off job that let me travel around the state of California, and has even brought me to a few surrounding states, all while being in high school. I chose this school specifically because I was lucky enough for their track and cross country programs to come to me to ask for help. I was blessed to meet with the coaches multiple times in person and they finally asked me to be the head media producer and team manager for their programs so this helps me to continue that dream of working with media. I want to become an entrepreneur because I have always wanted to become my own boss, but I have also wanted to be able to travel around and support everyone I can with my business. Being a media producer that can do both photo and video aspects of the job allows for me to help almost any business. I can do marketing, I can advertise, I can direct, all while having the freedom I have always desired along with creative control. I believe I can turn this dream job into a successful one as well because I have people supporting me on this journey. I am self taught so far and haven't yet had people teach me the fundamentals/important aspects of this pathway, but once I have 4 more years of training with actual classes, and meet real life connections, I am positive I can turn this into a profession. Success doesn't always mean money for me however as I have a few goals I would love to achieve through this path. I want to work for the media team at the track and cross country world championships in the near future, I would love to work at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and I would love to be able to help market the sports surrounding running so more people enjoy it. Achieving those goals would be more successful to me than monetary gain and this scholarship would help me to reach those goals.

I started photography because I needed something to keep me connected to my sport after being diagnosed with a grade three oblique muscle tear in March of 2023. I was informed that it would be in my best interest to not exercise until December of that year, so I needed something that could distract me from the distress and sadness that came with that information. Utilizing the cheep equipment I had I turned my hobby into an on and off job that let me travel around the state of California, and has even brought me to a few surrounding states, all while being in high school. I chose Cal Poly Slow to help further this dream school specifically because I was lucky enough for their track and cross country programs to come to me to ask for help. I was blessed to meet with the coaches multiple times in person and they finally asked me to be the head media producer and team manager for their programs so this helps me to continue that dream of working with media. I want to become an entrepreneur because I have always wanted to become my own boss, but I have also wanted to be able to travel around and support everyone I can with my business. Being a media producer that can do both photo and video aspects of the job allows for me to help almost any business. I can do marketing, I can advertise, I can direct, all while having the freedom I have always desired along with creative control. I believe I can turn this dream job into a successful one as well because I have people supporting me on this journey. I am self taught so far and haven't yet had people teach me the fundamentals/important aspects of this pathway, but once I have 4 more years of training with actual classes, and meet real life connections, I am positive I can turn this into a profession. Success doesn't always mean money for me however as I have a few goals I would love to achieve through this path. I want to work for the media team at the track and cross country world championships in the near future, I would love to work at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and I would love to be able to help market the sports surrounding running so more people enjoy it. Achieving those goals would be more successful to me than monetary gain.

I have chosen to study photography and videography at Cal Poly Slo this upcoming fall. I started photography because I needed something to keep me connected to my sport after being diagnosed with a grade three oblique muscle tear in March of 2023. I was informed that it would be in my best interest to not exercise until December of that year, so I needed something that could distract me from the distress and sadness that came with that information. Utilizing the cheep equipment I had I turned my hobby into an on and off job that let me travel around the state of California, and has even brought me to a few surrounding states, all while being in high school. I chose this school specifically because I was lucky enough for their track and cross country programs to come to me to ask for help. I was blessed to meet with the coaches multiple times in person and they finally asked me to be the head media producer and team manager for their programs so this helps me to continue that dream of working with media. I want to become an entrepreneur because I have always wanted to become my own boss, but I have also wanted to be able to travel around and support everyone I can with my business. Being a media producer that can do both photo and video aspects of the job allows for me to help almost any business. I can do marketing, I can advertise, I can direct, all while having the freedom I have always desired along with creative control. I believe I can turn this dream job into a successful one as well because I have people supporting me on this journey. I am self taught so far and haven't yet had people teach me the fundamentals/important aspects of this pathway, but once I have 4 more years of training with actual classes, and meet real life connections, I am positive I can turn this into a profession. Success doesn't always mean money for me however as I have a few goals I would love to achieve through this path. I want to work for the media team at the track and cross country world championships in the near future, I would love to work at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and I would love to be able to help market the sports surrounding running so more people enjoy it. Achieving those goals would be more successful to me than monetary gain.

I started photography because I needed something to keep me connected to my sport after being diagnosed with a grade three oblique muscle tear in March of 2023. I was informed that it would be in my best interest to not exercise until December of that year, so I needed something that could distract me from the distress and sadness that came with that information. This portfolio represents where I started, the opportunities I was blessed to recieve trying to follow this newly found passion, and the success, the failure, the pain, and the joy that comes from the sports surrounding running. Utilizing the cheep equipment I had I turned my hobby into an on and off job that let me travel around the state of California, and has even brought me to a few surrounding states, all while being in high school. These pictures represent all aspects of drive in this sport; success, exhaustion, confidence, creation, and support. I was lucky enough to also have captured some of the greatest high school athletes in the nation in these photos. These photos kick-started friendships with athletes I had never though of approaching due to their "status" on the field of competition but through creation, I have realized we all share the mentality of hard work, allowing for a bond between us.