A question for you. What defines you?
What makes you who you are? What are the qualities that you could suggest to others, and they would agree, those are definitely key components of you?

Let me tell you the traits that define me:
Passionate. Creative. Determined.

Passionate
- This applies to me in so many aspects. I do what I do professionally because it's something that not only do I think I am quite good at, it's something that I love to do. I don't think that I could honestly work for any length of time at a position I did not care about, or for a company I didn't believe in. On the personal side, I care very much for my family, friends and issues that matter to me, which include the environment and animal welfare. I'm a proud supporter of the World Wildlife Fund, and as silly as it sounds, I recycle as much as I can. Each person's actions count, right?

Creative- For this, I honestly believe many thanks go to my parents. I learned to read with my dad's comic books, so my head shall forevermore be filled with superbly colourful images of the stark contrasts between good and evil. One of my fondest childhood memories is the bedtime story - when one of my parents would lie in bed with me and read either one of the "Golden Rule" books to me, or when I was a touch older, my favourites - the "Asterix" books. Voices were created for characters, and when I would go back to look at the books by myself, I would hear my parents voices again. I grew up playing with crayons, always wishing my dad would let me play with his oil paints or pastels. I was extremely fortunate enough to go to a high school that had one of the best graphics labs and instructors around, and not only that, the only high school to have an actual theatre outside of the lower mainland at the time. Adding to this was the amazing group of friends that I had in high school, and you would almost never find me outside of either the graphics lab or theatre, unless it was to play hockey or attend my kung-fu classes, both of which in their own ways further inspired my creativity.

Determined- To make it anywhere in this world you have to be a bit stubborn, sometimes even moreso. Growing up where I did, I encountered many people only a few years older than myself who had somehow let their dreams slip away from them. It seems these people always want to see others fail as well, and there were many times I was told that I'd forever be stuck in my small home town, working as a labourer and never doing any of these crazy things I was dreaming of.
I told each one of those people, they were wrong.
When I had a horrific government agent try to tell me that my chosen career path was a waste of time, and there was no way the program that I was legally entitled to have sponsor part of my education would do so, I told him he was wrong.
When I was told a dream of mine, a year in the future, would never happen - I knew it would. Every day, I worked towards my dream, and I achieved it.
This isn't to say I don't fail - I have many, many times before, and I know I will again. But when I do, I know I will get back up, and try even harder. To me, there's no shame in failing - but there's more than I could bear in not trying.









"JT was the best man at my wedding. He cleans up nicely and is a great accessory for pictures, but aside from his charm and good looks he also took great care of me as the bride.

I remember him saying to me at the reception "If anyone comes to you asking you questions or stressing you out, you tell them to talk to me. Even if I don't know what I'm doing I'll figure it out, ok?". Needless to say I had very little stress on my wedding day and the pictures turned out great!"

  - Alyshia Vogt,
Beautiful bride