“I was like, ‘This is the time to change.’ School wasn’t doing really good. Then I changed my major, and applied to a few schools around that town. I didn’t get in, and then I applied to SEMO. One of my good friends was going to school here, and he said, ‘Hey, try applying here.’ I applied, got through, and then in 2014, I moved here.

“I took a couple of photography classes with Bradley Phillips, and he took me under his wing. Mentored me; pushed me through, and always motivated me, you know? Through him, I managed to find internships in St. Louis, in New York, and went out and learned a lot. I came back and used it in all of this… I’m so much better now compared to like three years ago.

“Even in life, I have a lot of mentors over here in Cape. Always in life, you think you can do it by yourself, but not really, you know. There’s always unique people to balance it out; to help you over the walls that you build yourself. There are days where you just hit a brick wall, you know, just like BOOM! What do I do now?

“Life is hard; it is really, really tough, but sometimes we just have to go through it, and with the help of good people.”