Aloha, hello, hola, hey…!
I hail from the rocky suburbs of Sacramento, CA, a town called Rocklin. To put this on a map, you would land somewhere between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe at the base of the foothills connecting to the Sierra Nevadas.
Growing up, my life revolved around competitive sports and voluntary extracurriculars. You could say I was always busy. Weekends were constantly filled with soccer or volleyball tournaments, my sister’s gymnastics competitions, or retreats for student government. During all of these activities, I was still managing how to deal with family issues at home in the middle of my adolescent years when everything that goes wrong feels like it’s the end of the world. I fought with my mom all the time (now we are best friends), my sister and I grew apart (she’s 22 months younger than I), and going into my senior year of high school I began questioning myself. Who is Jill?
After quitting volleyball after an unbelievable high school season, suddenly losing my grandfather to a stroke the day after Christmas, and falling out of my core group of friends, my identity became a mystery.
So. I got a job at Starbucks which provided me with some incredible female role models. I fell in love with Environmental Science which led me towards my career path that I am still on today. I got accepted to San Diego State University which challenged me everyday to continue stretching my brain even after I graduated.
And so began my journey to where I am now.
Current location of residence: MAUI, HI.
Approximately three and half years ago, I received an internship between my sophomore and junior years of college with the Pacific Whale Foundation on Maui. I had always visited Maui for vacation as it is my mom’s favorite place in the entire world, but I had never lived anywhere else besides California. I was honestly terrified of cockroaches (didn’t even know centipedes existed until I saw one and almost had a heart attack) and I didn’t think I would be able to live in a relatively foreign place without anyone I knew, especially my mom. But, I DID IT!!! Three months on this beautiful rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean just wasn’t enough for me. I cried…bawled my eyes out for the first 25 minutes of my flight back home to California, and strained my neck around the window trying to catch my last glimpse of Maui. After leaving the island, I craved it. Needed to be back. There was such a strong pull for me to live in Hawaii, but I knew I had to be patient and finish school. It was then I actively decided to move back to Maui after I graduated college. So here I am, I made it!
Many of you may be wondering, what’s this girl got to offer to not only Steemit, but our human race as a whole?
Well, in my broad span of 23 and a half years of existing and living on planet earth, I’ve been through a lot of things that probably a lot of other people have been through as well. My job here is not to tell people my stories, but the lessons I’ve learned along the way to inspire people when they feel stuck, or broken, or in need of a bit of humor (I currently work on a boat taking people snorkeling in the legendary Molokini Crater. Working on a boat full of tourists makes for some pretty funny interactions and experiences.).
What I aim to share with you awesome people:
-How I went from corporate to paradise
-Being the poorest, but happiest I’ve ever been in my entire life
-Positivity during the darkest of times
-Self Love by obtaining consistent self esteem and self confidence
-Inspire and influence positive change for our communities and environment
Ultimately, my goal here is to challenge myself in a new venture of creative writing, inspiring others, and learning from you!
Mahalo (thank you) for reading and you’ll hear from me soon :D
Jill