A week after graduation, Brian and I embarked on a
cross-country road trip from Georgia, with our final destination being Orange
County, California. We packed up my car with all of my worldly possessions and
set out on the 2,200 mile journey.
Neither of us had ever driven across the country, almost coast to coast, before, so we were both excited for what lay ahead.
In total, we were to pass through ten different states and an assortment of
landscapes including mountains, plains, forests, and deserts.
I was surprised by just how much crap I owned. The
car was completely packed.
The first day was filled mostly with driving with
few stops but to eat and browse a few thrift stores in the middle of nowhere. We
had given ourselves a week to make the trip, covering a few hundred miles each
day, but we got a bit ahead of ourselves and ended the first day just outside
of Little Rock, Arkansas. We found a street fair / concert in the city and
enjoyed that for a while before calling it a day.
The rest of the trip was spent similarly, driving
for the better part of the morning and afternoon and stopping whenever we
wished to take photos or stretch our legs. The landscape gradually transformed
from lush green to the pale yellow of Texas and Oklahoma fields and ultimately
the barren wastelands of New Mexico and Arizona.
Somewhere in Oklahoma, we glimpsed huge clouds of
black smoke billowing up from a field alongside the highway. Craving adventure
and a potential backdrop for a photo or two, Brian and I got off at the nearest
exit and followed the smoke along miles of gravel roads twisting through
endless fields.
We were apparently one of the first ones on the
scene, before even the fire truck or ambulances that came speeding by after we’d
pulled over a short distance away. We didn’t dare to get too close, should the
wildfire have spread quickly in our direction.
More from Oklahoma:
Brian saw a deer from the road and parked to get a
picture of it before it disappeared into the undergrowth.
Both of my feet and legs had fallen asleep, and I
looked like a mess stumbling after in pursuit of the deer, hahaha.
An abandoned house outside of Oklahoma City
We stopped in some national parks along the way and
of course hit the Grand Canyon, among other things. Brian and I ended up completing
the trip in five days and were glad to make it to his house, for we were
ultimately drained by the end of the journey. It was really enjoyable, though,
and we made some good memories, and I think that’s about all one can ask for
out of something like this. We're planning on road tripping up the west coast in a few weeks.
I’m
not entirely sure where to start with this. I’ve been meaning to create a blog
for a while now so that I would have a place to write more in-depth about what
is going on in my life and budding photography career. A little introduction
might be helpful: I was born in November 1993 in Jacksonville, Florida, but
raised for the most part in a small town in Georgia. I discovered photography
in the spring of 2010 and started a 365 project, which I completed a year (and
three months) later. I have since decided to pursue a career as a fine art
photographer and relocated to Orange, California in June 2012.
Anyway! So. Last month, I graduated from high
school. I guess that’s where I’ll kick things off. My graduating class
consisted of almost 500 kids, the largest in my school’s history. I was #3 in
the class, which was disappointing at first, as I’d basically worked my hardest
to be valedictorian, but later reassuring as I realized I was ranked the
highest student that didn’t have to give a speech (Public speaking kills me).
So after that, I was long-hair-don’t-care about graduation and really just
wanted to get it out of the way.
I ranked #3 with “honors with distinction” and also
was awarded “star student” for having the highest SAT scores in my graduating
class.
Both sets of grandparents traveled down from
Wisconsin for the weekend, which was nice, as I rarely get to see them. My
boyfriend Brian also flew over from California to be there.
We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing by the
pool.
Reflecting on my high school career, I don’t have
much to say. I sincerely doubt I will be one of those individuals to remark
later on in life about how they were the best days of my life. However, I also
can’t say that they were torturous or completely awful. I enjoyed school for
the most part. I love learning. It definitely became tedious and less appealing
during my junior and senior years, but for the most part, high school was
pretty okay.
While the rest of my classmates went into that
weekend relishing in their newfound freedom from compulsory education, I was
desperate to make the most of my last week in Georgia. That following Saturday,
I was to pack up my car with all my worldly belongings, say goodbye to my
family, and drive across the country to California. From there, I would move in
with Brian and truly begin my career as a professional photographer.
I can honestly say that I never anticipated this
path for myself. Growing up, I was convinced that I would be some sort of
doctor or lawyer or other conventional, high-paying profession. I’d never had a
passion or showed an aptitude for anything other than school. I had been
brainwashed into believing that I wouldn’t be happy unless I made hundreds of
thousands of dollars a year, owned a big house, and had a secure job. I took
classes designed for a career in medicine and had decided to pursue a career as
an anesthesiologist, simply on the notion that it was the best-paying job and I
was smart.
I do feel that there is a lot of brainwashing and
contradiction that occurs within today’s society, and it occurs so gradually
and begins so early in our lives that it is hard to root out or realize until
faced with a situation like an artist might encounter. A college education has
come to be something that is almost instinctively sought after high school. Not
to go has essentially become a taboo. I don’t have anything against the idea of
college whatsoever, especially when one aspires to a career where it is
required, like a lawyer or doctor. It is when that mindset is applied to those
careers that do not require it when I see a problem, like a photographer, per
say. Art school can be a great thing for those who desire guidance and the
fundamentals. However, for someone like myself, who has already established his
own personal way of creating, I don’t think it is entirely necessary and could
even be detrimental in a way. True art and talent and inspiration cannot be
taught. It is born. That’s how I see it.
I’ve never been one to take risks, and choosing to
pursue a career on my own just felt so right that I didn’t even see it as one.
I’ve learned to go after what I want and my own happiness and let everything
else and everyone else’s judgments fall by the wayside. #YOLO. Haha.
Anyway, I didn’t mean for this to go so long or get
so serious. I plan to continue to post here -- much more light-heartedly,
hopefully – when exciting things happen, or… I don’t know, I just want to say
something that won’t fit in a flickr description.
