I grew up in Evanston, a township on the outskirts of Chicago. I went to a Spanish Immersion Elementary school, where I spent a lot of time camping and outdoors. I was also happy to sit and solve Rubik’s Cubes and fold origami as well.
Through middle school and into high school at Evanston Township, I was a bit lost. I tried a lot of different things, but nothing really gave me spark, I just played video games and watched TV when I got home from school. Then the second semester of my junior year I started working at a local garden center. Something about working with plants and helping people create green spaces resonated with me. I still go back to work there whenever I’m home.
That experience led me to take an urban agriculture class senior year, where we tended community gardens on the ETHS campus. I really enjoyed the classwork about plants, and I found it fun working in the community garden. It also felt right, so I decided to look for schools with solid Agricultural Business programs. I went to LSU looking to get out of the cold and prove myself in a new academic environment. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, but I figured Agricultural Business made sense.
My focus has mostly solidified since then. I’ve developed an interest in Urban Green Infrastructure, which is an umbrella term used for living walls, green roofs, city parks, hydroponic setups, aquaponics, urban beekeeping, anything that brings the positive externalities of biodiversity and green space into cities.
What sucks (and the problem that I’m trying to fix) is that people trapped in urban environments don’t get enough natural beauty. They can’t love and protect the world around them if they never experience it, and that’s important now more than ever as our natural world is imperiled. At the same time, too many people live in food deserts without access to fresh fruits and vegetables. These problems are, contrary to some people’s ill-informed opinions, solvable, and I genuinely believe we do have a responsibility to solve them.
When I’m not working on school or projects, unfortunately you’ll find me learning how to program (I’ve gotten deep into building tools and solving problems with software), doing calisthenics, reading, or trying something new. I’m drawn to challenges and problems that require creative solutions.
The future I see is one where people have access to fresh food anywhere in a city, and where natural beauty isn’t a luxury reserved for those who can escape to the suburbs or countryside. I want to bring life back into concrete jungles and make sure everyone can experience the connection to nature that shaped who I am today.