I'm an undergraduate at Appalachian State University in the small-ish town of Boone, NC. It's settled right into to the Blue Ridge Mtns. of the Appalachians and has some of the most beautiful places in the world, even if it's just "hill-mountains". I kinda have a take-what-you-can-get mentality and be-happy-no-matter-how-little and it's worked so far. I am passionate about animals and am studying to work as a biological technician someday focused on animal/plant conservation. I try to be as sustainable as possible in America and while it's possible, too many people aren't on board with recycling or composting and all the other easy things to help our environments. But in the end, I can be an lazy, hard-working, thoughtful, appreciative, passionate kind of guy who want to see what is out there.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I love the thought of Couchsrufing in every aspect. A friend of mine got all the way to Hawaii from North Carolina by doing it. There is this whole population of people out there who are so afraid of taking risks anymore and I think they have put a negative connotation onto things like hitch-hiking or just seeing the world in general and so we miss out on so much. So I want to be a part of the world in this way and I'm super excited for it.

Interests

• animals
• hiking
• hitchhiking
• volunteering
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

I would say I'm more into rock and roll, but I definitely am the kind of person who fanboys over a few artists of varying genres. The ones I can't live without are Taking Back Sunday, FKA Twigs, Lorde, 30 Seconds to Mars. (Check out All the Way by Taking Back Sunday, it's a good one!)

I'm pretty big into movies and can watch literally just about anything and not be "bored" or "weirded out". I love talking about them and appreciating filmmakers' methods and meanings. I really love Jake Gyllenhaal, Kristen Stewart (she is a great actress), Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hardy, Shia Labeouf, etc.

I dony read many books these days, but I definitely should. And I say that because I really want to be reading some of the older and great works out there, and I recently had a World Lit. course where we did just that and people were writing about things that are still a problem today: racism, classism, discrimination, other societal problems and even environmental dilemmas. I really like Ayn Rand though, and Ray Bradbury.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Recently in 2016, I volunteered with nine other participants at the Elephant Sanctuary of Tennessee for a week helping with landscaping, aiding the community, and learning about the issues surrounding elephants in captivity, especially in the entertainment industry. The facility is closed to the public unless you volunteer with them but the experience is something I will never forget because there's really nothing to compare to seeing a group of elephants who have been mistreated for a large part of their lives and then seeing them interact happily with caregivers after their confinement with circuses and zoos. The experience really opened me up to conservation sciences and now I plan to go into that field with many different species.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I really like to listen, I usually don't know how to talk about myself unfortunately, but I really give all my ears to what someone is saying. I'm also always willing to help out around the place if you need it, I'll probably ask too.