Hi, My name is Nick Rae and I’m a part of the 2020/2021 class of the Tahoe Resident Leadership Program! Before I was here I was a freshman at Point Loma Nazarene University. When I was at PLNU I was a part of many different clubs and sports teams. I was an Outdoor Leadership guide with Loma Outside, I was a young life leader, player on the loman empire ultimate frisbee team, a part of loveworks missions outreach, and I helped out with Homeless ministries. I was so connected to that school that it was very hard for me to make the decision to not attend PLNU in the future years due to the cost of the school and the fact that I switched my major from Kinesiology to Photography. As soon as i made the decision of not going back to PLNU next year I told my friend from high school who worked at my home church and he told me that they might be doing this program. Well as the weeks went by I was in contact with the lead pastor of the church (Terrence) and also the program director (Ryan). They told me the program works with what you want to do, and for me since I wanted to do photography they told me that they would give me connections and people that they knew who were succeeding in the industry so I would be able to learn, talk, and work with them.
Know that I’m in the program and we are 3 months away from finishing. I’ve been looking back at all of the growth and achievements I have acquired since being here. Some of these achievements that i have accomplished are that I’ve been able to film an entire wedding, landed my photos in newspaper articles, learned about the industry from many other professionals, and began to respect the art of photography a lot more. But since being here that isn’t all I/we have done. I’ve grown in my faith with my roomates who are now my brothers in Christ, was able to help out and teach at many youth events and church events, i’ve gotten to read great books and have discussions that really help me grow as a Christian, and I’ve been able to live back home in Tahoe which is just an amazing and gorgeous area to be a part of. I can talk about all the fun and what we do in the program for hours, but just know i have had a blast being here and this was the best possible way for me to spend the year after coming from a place like Point Loma.