I grew up on a small farm in the countryside of West Virginia, planting seeds, chasing pigs, climbing trees and driving tractors. My parents always told me that the world was big and that there was so much to see if only I grabbed all the opportunities available to me.
As a child, people always asked me what I wanted to be "when I grew up." As I got older, my answer to this question changed, but the importance of the question remained. What they really wanted to know was what was important to me and how I wanted to live my life. I have been blessed to be able to travel to many places and meet people from all over the world. What I have learned is that I want to be defined by a boldness to zipline between mountains, a curiosity to hike along remote cliffs, an enthusiasm to taste strange foods and the bravery to travel thousands of miles to unknown places.
I suppose an introduction to myself would be incomplete without some fun facts about myself. I have a cat named Pig. Why Pig? Why not? I played soccer throughout my childhood and high school years. My favorite color is royal blue. I haven't eaten meat since I was 11. I have been to 12 countries, roughly; I'm bad at counting, which made Calculus II difficult. I never went to elementary school because I was homeschooled.
