About Me

“We lead our lives like water flowing down a hill, going more or less in one direction until we splash into something that forces us to find a new course”

Fun fact about me: I LOVE quotes. I have notes on my phone with dozens of them, journals full of them, post its scattered around my room. I believe that words hold so much power and frequently have the wind knocked out of me from the sheer beauty people can create by stringing them together in just the right order. I chose this one to introduce myself because this trip feels like a big moment, like I am at a major crossroads and hopefully headed down a direction that will jumpstart a career in anti-poaching.

For the next 3 months, I am headed to West Africa, Sierra Leone specifically. The plan is to help Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary start an anti-poaching program. For anyone that knows me, it should be obvious that this opportunity is a dream come true. For as long as I can remember, I’ve known that my purpose in life involved learning from, working with, and protecting animals. I have wanted to work in anti-poaching specifically for years now. And somehow, I got lucky enough to work on an amazing and worthwhile project right from the beginning AND get school credit for doing so. I am heartbroken and filled with anxiety around leaving my dog JoJo for so long, but I know in my gut that this is an opportunity I could never pass up.

I’ve decided to attempt a blog for a couple reasons. First, this is a project that I am so over-the-top excited for and want to share with my friends and family. A blog seems like the quickest and easiest way to get updates to people. And secondly, I have always been a very private person. Recently, though, I have done a lot of work in letting people in more because this is a very isolated way of life. It is very outside of my comfort zone to share this experience publicly, but in a good way, in a way that feels like growth. So we’re giving this a shot!