What were you doing before the COVID-19 pandemic?

I was living in Brooklyn, New York with five roommates. I had recently graduated from college. After resigning from a fellowship for ethical concerns, I was managing a bar and attending Farm School NYC, an organization that provides students with the tools they need to become effective and empowered grassroots leaders in the food justice movement. I was learning hands-on how to grow food and cultivate food justice in urban spaces, which I really enjoyed. However, when Covid hit and the learning went virtual, it was very difficult to remain engaged and connected. 

How did the pandemic influence your career path?  

When we slowed down our lifestyles in quarantine, nature’s positive and healing responses only proved how unnatural our pace was prior to the pandemic. The quarantine chapter of the pandemic showed many of us the disharmony we live in with nature and ourselves. For me, this was a moment of pause, rebalancing and reconnecting to myself. This was a moment to redefine my relationship to the collective, as we all have something special to bring to the table. I used this time and space to meditate and take inventory on my goals, interests and dreams.  Connecting with the dreams of my inner child, ironwork came up frequently in my reflection. Iron work is working with precious metals – either welded together or melted down– to create just about anything. I felt an urgency to make a shift in my life, to push myself closer to a lifestyle with my passions and dreams at the center.

The uncertainty of the pandemic heightened my need to learn and create. I knew that the time off of work and the unemployment checks would not last forever so I immediately leveraged the money into a move across the country.  I bought a one-way ticket to New Orleans and mailed my belongings to myself. I was feeling courageous and excited, but also quite nervous, making such a big move at a risky time. I immediately enrolled in the Louisiana Green Corps, a program that offers careers training in green infrastructure for individuals 18 and up who are not engaged in school or work and looking to grow their career. When I joined, I could barely read a measuring tape. LA Green Corps walked me through the basics of a wide array of trades that really prepared me for ironwork. I am now involved with the non-profit on an alumni level, recruiting youth to join and connecting mentors to the project.