"Joshua Tree" by Alex, 17 | Everglades National Park

Some people say “If I could go back and change that I would.” But I will never say that. I believe that if my past didn’t turn out the way that it is now I wouldn’t be who I am today. My past isn’t a good one so when I tell people this they look at me in awe. But all I have to say is this: if you really really love who you are right now, you would never want to go back into your past and change anything. I believe that your past turns you into who you are. Yes, there are some extremely sad things that have happened to me and in the beginning I didn’t understand that I could use my life to help others. But now I do, which is why I embrace everything that has happened to me.

About Alex: "My name is Alexandra. I’m from Central Wisconsin. I was brought to Prairieview because I was using drugs and running away. I faced many challenges while at Northwest Passage including finding the motivation to change, conforming to programming, AODA group, and Family Therapy. I loved going to the Everglades. It was so new. It was so challenging because of the unknown environment. I learned to expect the unexpected. I never realized what was so great about photography until I was inspired by the unknown surroundings. Before the Everglades, I thought that this unknown territory was dangerous and threatening. But after talking to the many rangers and through my experiences I learned that I had made assumptions about something that I actually knew nothing about. A lot of assumptions are made throughout a person’s life. However I now understand that we learn from experiences, we don’t learn from what other people say."