FOWA Scholarship Program
2009 Recipients: Matt Badolato | Chris Thurne
Past Recipients: Sara Ypsilanti | Mike Matthews | Eric Zamora | Nicole Ellis | Elena Velkoye
Learn more: FOWA Scholarship Program
FOWA Scholarship Winner Essay - Nicole EllisI have been blessed throughout my life to experience and live in some of God's most beautiful creations in this world. My parents started the Redbone Celebrity Tournament Series, fishing tournaments to raise money for cystic fibrosis research. I was born with cystic fibrosis, a genetic lung disease, but thankfully, it has not hindered me from enjoying the outstanding environment I grew up in, and traveling with my parents to some wonderful fishing destinations. The daughter of a fishing guide, I was raised with a deep appreciation for the outdoors and the environments importance in our lives.
Ever since I was young my parents took me on camping trips in the backcountry and everglades. It made me a person that craves the solitude and peace found only when deep into the most pristine areas of nature. It is in those places that I feel so connected to my creator and creation, myself included. My interest in nature and journalism began with these outings. I remember my father telling me about a nest of Roseate Spoonbills he wanted me to see. From then on, every year around Christmas my father and I would go out into the backcountry to the same nesting area and take pictures of the new babies.
Unfortunately, those nests are becoming fewer and fewer each year. It was with that realization that I decided more people needed to see the be uty of nature or experience it in some way in order to appreciate its value. When you catch a tarpon on fly, you grow in appreciation for that creature, through sportsmanship. When you see a baby dolphin tail walking in your boat wake, you truly see their beauty. These are the experiences of my childhood that opened my eyes to the wonders of nature around us.
As my world expanded, my love for its treasures grew as well. When I was fifteen years old we began a Redbone tournament on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. The second I stepped off the plane I fell in love. The air was so fresh and everything so green it seemed to me that in that place man and nature had not lost its connection, but still blended harmoniously. Feeling so much peace and joy just from stepping onto the dirt airstrip, you can imagine how taken I was by the rainforest, the black sand beaches, and the deep blue ocean. I remember what it felt like to be on the beach and just strip down to my swimsuit and jump in the cool clear water, rolling in the waves. I remember hiking with my mother in the rainforest and seeing a large tree slowly crack and tumble through the foliage to the forest floor.
I remember seeing the butterflies, monkeys, and parrots abandoning their home as it crumbled beneath them. As we hiked away from the scene of natural chaos I thought of the saying, "If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, did it make a sound?" That is a comment that comes from someone with very limited perspective on life in this world. I saw those creatures flee that tree in a state of panic, and I not only heard the tree crash but the monkeys screaming.
Whether I was there to see it or not, it was something that impacted its surroundings, and I know that I am blessed to have seen it. These are things that everyone should experience, though it isn't possible for everyone to receive them first hand, and many don't realize what they are missing. Journalism helps those detached to hear the tree fall, and once they do they are more likely to appreciate the tree or want to see it fall for themselves. This idea didn't stay in Costa Rica, but came upon me again in British Columbia when I saw a killer whale breach, in the Bahamas wnen I walked the flats looking for bonefish, and when I swam in a deep, dark cave in Belize.
My childhood and experiences like these have influenced my studies at Stetson University. I am still not certain what career lies in my future. I do, however, know my passions - my faith, nature, travel, cultures and communication. With these passions in mind I have chosen to study communications, Spanish and journalism. I want to encourage the public to appreciate and yearn for the outdoor experience. Opening their eyes to the beautiful world around then, and the creator that made it, is the only way for people to truly enjoy this world and understand its splendor.
