Blog 1

 Hi, my name is Trevor Brooks. I was born and raised in Ashland, Virginia, where I've lived with my parents and brother my whole life. Ashland is a very small town with only about 7,500 people residing there. It is located about 30 minutes north of Richmond on Interstate 95. Like I said, I've lived there my whole life and wouldn't ever want to move anywhere else. I enjoy hunting during the fall and winter, and fishing in the spring and summer. I have a 400 acre farm behind my house and that is where I hunt. I also have a river house in Gloucester, Virginia, and that is where I usually reside in the summer. I have fished my whole life but it's not as enjoyable now that it is a job (yes you can make money fishing). I am a mate on a charter boat but when I started actually working it sucked the fun right out of it. I used to go for pleasure and to spend time with my dad and brother but now I will only go if I am making money. I chose to come to CNU because of how competitive it was to get in and I heard all the great things about the university. From the small class sizes to the great food at the dining halls, CNU has it all. Another reason I chose to come here was because it is near my river house. I wanted to be far enough away from home where my parents wouldn't come every weekend or I wouldn't go home, but close enough where if I needed something I could get it. Besides hunting and fishing, I enjoy playing basketball, hanging out with friends, and playing video games. Basketball has always been a part of my life growing up. I have played since I was a young kid and continued to play all the way through high school. I started on varsity all four years of high school and was a captain of the team my junior and senior year. I met a lot of new people through AAU teams and tournaments and some of my best friends were met through the game. I am not big into video games but when you get on with friends it is a lot of fun. I do this in my free time but I don't spend hours on it like some people. I am also into taking time and exploring new places. I recently went to Texas and visited Lake Travis. This was an amazing experience because I have not been out of Virginia a lot. The water in the lake was very blue, and that is something that isn't very common here in virginia. I have a lot of goals set for during college and after college, some short and some long term. One of my short term goals while I am still in school is to get at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA. This is a big goal for me because I have never done as bad as I did the first and second semester of college. Another goal I have is to get an internship at a company that works on the Chesapeake bay. I am an environmental studies major, so I would like to get the internship at either Virginia Marine Resource Commission (VMRC) or Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS). These are both great companies with many opportunities to secure a job. I have fished on the Chesapeake bay my whole life, so it would be very cool to work for a company that studies the fish, water quality, and marsh land of the body of water I grew up fishing. I hope to continue working as a mate on the charter boat for as long as I can and continue learning more about the environment of the bay. This will help me further my knowledge for an internship and hopefully my job later in my life.