I have never done an end-of-year blog post before, but 2015 was incredibly significant for me, both in my professional and personal life, and I feel like it is a good time to reflect a little bit.

I published a photo book about religion for my WKU photojournalism senior capstone project and got to witness so many beautiful moments of love, community and faith. I graduated from college with some of the most talented people and dearest friends beside me. I traveled around Europe with barely any money and saw some incredible things. I accomplished a long time goal of making photos for the San Francisco Chronicle for a summer and was constantly pushed out of my comfort zone. I went through a difficult breakup and discovered a lot of new things about myself in the process. I got an exciting new job, moved far away from everything familiar and started a completely new life in Florida. Just to name a few.. 

2015 was really hard, wonderfully rewarding and full of so much love. I think something that I got better at this year is treasuring the good, the lessons and the light in the mistakes, sadness and challenges. As much as the dark moments were difficult to get through sometimes, I wouldn’t trade them because some of my best moments of love, sweetness, and joy came from those moments.

Change has always been something that is really hard for me (like most people), and some of those changes are heartbreaking and some transitions are really scary and sometimes it was easy to just feel defeated or too scared - but embracing the challenges and using them to push yourself forward can lead to so many new and awesome moments that could have been missed otherwise. With all of the changes and challenges that 2015 brought, it also brought new friendships, exciting new opportunity, lots of love, and so much learning and growing. 

I’ve also learned a lot about myself as a photographer and the purpose of my work - the kind of journalist I want to be and the kind of role I want to play in whatever community I may work in. I know that my goals will probably change as I keep growing and learning, but for right now, I feel like where I am in Naples is right where I need to be.. And that is something that I am extremely grateful for.

So, these photos don’t necessarily represent my best work of 2015, they represent my most important moments - the most important people and places, the professional accomplishments and lessons, and the intimate moments of joy, friendship and love that I treasure most.

I hope 2016 is full of more learning, loving, growing and changing.

Happy New Year!