CJ Goulding

I went to school to be an engineer.

Four years later, I was ready to quit. Ready to give up on it all because I felt like I was living life according to someone else's plan. The frustration and loneliness buried me and me brought me away from the core of who I was, clouding my vision of what I was truly passionate about and who I was destined to become.

But a weeklong trip to Grand Teton National Park was the catalyst that started my journey up from rock bottom, and being supported by people who genuinely cared about me and had my best interest at heart gave me what I needed to sprout out of the dirt I had been buried in.

I continued to grow during the next summer, when I got the opportunity to plant these same seeds in others leading trips for high schoolers in North Cascades National Park (pictured). I was given the chance to change the lives of others, to show them the power of connection they possessed as human beings and their unlimited potential.

These experiences, and many more, have opened doors that have allowed me to continue to make these connections for people wherever I go, whether it is people and nature, leaders and their hidden ability to lead, or simply facilitating the innate desire humans have to connect to one another.

And along the way, I write and speak about my journey. I record and express the connections I witness as I go through life. So hop on for the ride!