Everyone has life choices to make and can have difficulties choosing what path is the correct one to go down. Some time in life paths are chosen for you and you are forced to go down them. Things can just happen in life that will bring you down unfortunate paths. Yet there are some paths you are brought through that are quite enjoyable. Some paths bring you through areas that are majestic, yet rough, but they bring you to a point of enlightenment.

As I look through my past and see the many paths I may not realized I've gone through, I've realized many things. First and foremost, photography and art has always been a part of my life. A path I was not able to choose, but has brought enlightenment and opportunity to my future. 

As a child, my mother loved photography and painting. She would go to painting classes, bring her camera to family vacations, even allowed me to participate, by purchasing disposable cameras. I always was excited to get my photographs back. Still to this day, I look back at a group of photos I took during my grade 3 final fun day of the school year. I took a picture of all my friends and many of the teachers who organized an activity with a prop of the event in hand. 

At the house, we have old fashioned film and video cameras that I would play with and pretend I was taking photographs of my friends. Even though at that time I didn't know how they even worked. 

Even to this day, re-thinking about all the events that occurred in my life, it amazes me how at one moment in my life, I had not realized how much I enjoy the excitement around photography. 

Throughout elementary school you always had to do art class, and it was mandatory to take an art class in grade 9. Therefore, as I chose my courses for my grade 10 year, I took a path and decided to not take any artistic courses. This path, was one that was rough; the torture I felt as my friends took photography and art, I knew I had to change it the next year. I was enlightened and knew that I had to have some sort of artistic class to keep my creative eye wondering. 

Although I began taking photography and art again, I still had difficulty seeing the path my life had planned for me. As grade 12 approached, I had decided I was going to go into Earth Sciences. I had chosen colleges, was taking the correct courses to get me there, but something still did not seem right. 

This brought me to a path of an extra year of high school. I was finally taking primarily art courses, things were starting to seem right. With a few inspirational words from my mother, I stumbled upon the Loyalist College Photojournalism course. I knew at that moment, this is that path I had been waiting for.

Since I am not in my second year of Photojournalism I can say, it was not always a sunny dirt path through the forest, but I could always see the sun peaking through the shadows of the trees. I cannot wait to see what path my other choices will bring me.