The Face Behind the Camera:
Welcome to my creative space and my world!
Hi, my name is Kathryn!
I’m currently studying at Colorado State University (CSU) in pursuit of two degrees: a Bachelor in Fine Arts in Graphic Design and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Media Communication. I’ve also recently joined the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program and will commission as a Second Lieutenant when I graduate in May of 2028. If you had asked younger me to predict my future in life, I would not have been able to guess the path I’ve taken.
Communication in all mediums has become a central point for my life and I always look forward to telling stories through my work, whether that’s through photography, videography, multimedia pieces, digital art projects, or physical art pieces. My journey to this point in life has been full of twists, turns, and full plot twists that no one saw coming.
I was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and spent the first eight years of my life there. I was extremely fascinated by life around me and my curiosity continued to grow as I went through a Montessori School. My best friends and I could often be found playing in the dirt, collecting things from the forest, or even stranger: building long-division and multiplication problems that filled multiple pages of graph paper and spanned entire classroom sections.
My parents moved us to Colorado to build a better childhood for my brother and I. We spent some time living with my grandparents before we got a house of our own in Fort Collins and then later Wellington. Living in Colorado was vastly different for me than living in St. Louis, it was definitely an adjustment, but I brought the same sense of curiosity to my new life. Elementary school and middle school didn’t point me to any specific passions or interests, but I kept myself busy through sports and extracurriculars at all levels.
In high school, my interests became more specific and niche as I continued to find out more of who I was and what drives me. I became more involved in the STEM community, I joined Scouts BSA, I fully dived into being the best flute player that I could be, I ran cross country and track, I formed new friendships and explored different potential life paths.
I enlisted in the United States Army Reserve as a Public Affairs Mass Communication Specialist shortly after I turned 17. I was still in high school and completed Basic Combat Training (BCT) between my junior and senior years of high school. BCT pushed me to some of my physical and mental limits but was relatively easy for me in the grand scheme of things. It was actually much harder for me to return to high school after completing BCT than the act of completing BCT. While in high school, I was also working on earning my Eagle Scout rank through Scouts BSA. My senior year was the most pivotal year for me: I was constantly busy and didn’t feel like I was on the correct path. I also took some of my first real art classes and became so interested in the act of creating as a form of expression. When I graduated in 2022, I had already completed far more than some of my peers and that momentum carried me into the next chapter of my life. At the time of my graduation, I fully intended on going to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville (UT-K) to study Forensic Anthropology.
After graduating high school, I attended my Advanced Individual Training (AIT) for the Army at Fort Meade, Maryland. I attended the Mass Communication Foundations (MCF) course through the Defense Information School. MCF was one of the most exhilarating moments for me; it really changed the trajectory of my life in the best way possible. I fell in love with the idea of communicating and became so engrossed in learning various communication methods and mediums. Half-way through the course, we learned basic Graphic Design skills and that ignited a passion I didn’t know I had. After falling so in love with communication and specifically visual communication, I decided that this was something I needed to do long-term. Since the draw of UT-K was its anthropology program, I no longer wanted to leave Colorado and leave my family for college to pursue something I wasn’t as interested in anymore. I applied to Colorado State University and transferred my enrollment to start as soon as I graduated from MCF.
As a Public Affairs Mass Communication Specialist, I’ve grown so familiar with telling stories and being able to capture imagery that aims at communicating to mass audiences. The military has really given me answers that I didn’t know I was looking for. I’ve been able to apply all of my miliary education to my studies at CSU. In the years since I’ve graduated high school, I’ve attended annual training for the Army Reserve in South Korea; I’ve dedicated years of studying in pursuit of two degrees; I’ve found ways to combine my military experiences and my art journey through CSU; I’ve been recognized for my Public Affairs work continued to grow in my craft; I’ve worked as a Photography Intern with CSU’s Marketing and Communication Department; and I’ve deployed to the Middle East as a Public Affairs Mass Communication Specialist. Communication through various mediums has become essential to my life and I always look forward to learning more and creating my next project.
When I’m not behind the camera or creating things in art studios, I can be found with my cat, Luna. I’ve had Luna since 2019, and she continues to be my muse in various projects. So far, she’s made an appearance in at least one project in each of my studio classes. As someone who is constantly busy and doing things, it’s wonderful to have Luna to ground me and bring me some calm in my self-created chaotic life.
