About — ALEXIS JOHNSON

An ocean only an inch deep is still a shit ton of water.

When I was in the third grade, my teacher asked the class what we wanted to be when we grew up. Hopes of NBA playoffs, sliding down fire poles, and healing sick kitties filled the room. When my turn came, I nonchalantly stated, “I want to be a garbage man and wade through trash.” An eruption of giggles filled the room, and I sat back pleased with my answer. I had just seen a PBS documentary about landfills the day prior, and why not? I was nine after all, what I said didn’t matter.

Not much later, the teacher pulled me out of the recess line to chat. She asked if everything was okay at home—and she meant it. Stunned at her concern, I stammered something about only joking. I didn’t know she wanted a real answer (again, I’m nine). The rest of our chat is a blur now, but her disappointed eyes left an impression. Apparently, I needed to know what I was going to do with my life, and I needed to know now.

Fast forward to seventeen. Scholarships, applications, rejections, acceptances. I needed to decide what I was going to do with my life, and I needed to decide now. But then I paused to ask, “Why?”

This unquenchable desire to understand “why” has driven my career. I have the courage to ask questions, challenge status-quo, and demand better. But beyond just the courage to ask, I have the dedication to prove that by asking “why,” I would open doors and shatter glass ceilings.

So cheers to a lifelong endeavor towards solving the answer—and collecting meaning along the way.