Bradie Ross's Questionnaire

Bradie's Personal Journal - Part 1

I live in the great town of Flagstaff, Arizona - next to one of the most beautiful places on earth: The Grand Canyon. My true pride is working in Grand Canyon National Park as a field biologist, which makes Flagstaff a great place to live. As far as my actual dwelling...it's not much but it's enough. I don't really need that much space and spend most of my time outside, so a run-down one bedroom apartment suits me just fine. It's less of a home and more of a display room for my specimens. In every room of the house are collections of rocks, pressed plants, and pinned insects on the walls and bookshelves. Speaking of books, I have quite a few - lots of biology books and some lesbian romance novels when I need a change of pace. Besides that, just some basic furniture, houseplants, and field supplies.

Bradie's Personal Journal - Part 2

I get my money from my job. I work as a field biologist at Grand Canyon National Park. I spend most of my days in the less-travelled areas of the park, surveying plants and tracking animals of interest. Sometimes I have to scold tourists for going off the designated hiking trails. Keeping our parks as pristine and undisturbed as possible is IMPORTANT! As far as what I spend my money on? Mostly on recreation and the basic expenses. I go on A LOT of solo camping and backpacking trips and the gear for those expeditions costs a good amount of money. I also have a couple memberships to a regular gym and a climbing gym. The good trail clothes cost money too...I'm glad I don't have any dependents. 

Bradie's Personal Journal - Part 3

My biggest dream is to explore and document our universe. I've always been curious about the world around me, both on Earth and beyond. Don't get me wrong, I find comfort in the terrains that are familiar to me. I'll never get tired of the beautiful stripes of rocks at the Grand Canyon, or the beautiful rushing water of the Colorado River, but I want more. I need more. I think humans will never be able to fully explore and discover our universe because we are limited by our basic needs. Food, water, air, disease...mortality. I want to conquer these things so that I can become the ultimate explorer and make legendary discoveries. Maybe I'll even find a nice planet to settle down on where I don't have to deal with other humans. To have the chance to explore undiscovered places...I'd die for it. Kill for it. I'd do anything for it.

Bradie's Personal Journal - Part 4

The most defining event of my life was the day I realized I wanted to be a field biologist. It was the end of a special week for myself and the other 8th graders. To celebrate going into high school, we spent a week taking aptitude tests that tell us about what careers we would be best at. I've always been good at school, but I'm not good at talking to people. I remember getting excited about tasks like surveying for invasive species and watching for forest fires, but I wasn't sure what that meant job-wise. Things finally clicked for me at the final event of the week: the career fair. Professionals from all kinds of occupations set up tables in the gym for us to examine and ponder. I was drawn to one table only, the one occupied by the National Park Service. They had several people there: a ranger, a lobbyist, and a field biologist. I was captivated by the field biologist and his stories of surveying vegetation and working with wildlife. I knew then what my destiny was...at least as a mortal.

Bradie's Personal Journal - Part 6

My childhood was pretty average, comfortable even. It was pretty much just me and my mom and we liked it that way. She worked your typical 9-5 job as an accountant, though she was able to adjust her schedule so that she was with me in the mornings and evenings after school. We had a nice morning routine. First, she would knock on my door three times at exactly 6:30 AM. I was already awake usually, and used her soft knocks as a cue to start getting ready. She would cook breakfast for us, which consisted of a cup of coffee, a breakfast sandwich, and toast. We would then eat breakfast together and ask each other about our plans for the day. Then we would pack our lunch and head out for work and school. We continued this routine until she was too sick to work.

As for school, I had mixed feelings. I love learning so the actual academic part was great. I even participated on some trivia teams in high school. The social part was not as fun. I didn't really fit in or have friends, but I never really wanted friends. I was perfectly fine with just me and my mom with appropriate pleasantries with my trivia team and teachers. Some people tried to bully me, but stopped after I knocked a guy out with one punch. Thankfully I didn't get suspended after a teacher vouched for me. People left me alone and I left them alone, lost in my studying, reading, and daydreams.

Bradie's Personal Journal - Part 7

I don' t think I've ever truly been in love. I've only had one relationship in my entire life and it lasted less than a year. Her name was Kayla. Did I love her? I don't know. There were parts of her that I loved, like the way her nose crinkled when she laughed, or how she would dance around her dorm room to her favorite songs. She was a nice person but I knew from the beginning that we weren't going to last. I think I stayed in the relationship just to see how it would play out. I didn't really have any problems with her besides her consistent need to socialize and her desire to always want me at those social events. She wanted me to change and I wanted her to just accept me. Neither of those ever happened, so we broke up. After that, I've never had a desire to pursue romantic relationships. I like my life and my routines as they are and don't want to change for anyone.