I hunted and fished with my daddy when I was young. In the ninth grade, Daddy started taking me deer hunting with him. In the tenth grade, a place called Bear Island was having a special archery-only hunting weekend on the South Carolina coast. The last night we were on the island, a wildlife technician named Johnny Hires spoke to our group. When my daddy told me Mr. Hires really did get paid for doing this all year, I decided I wanted a job like his.

My parents wanted me to go to college, and I had known since I was in the tenth grade that I wanted to work with wildlife. I didn't want a four-year degree, though. I heard about Haywood Community College, and I decided to go there. Haywood had just started offering a degree in wildlife management, and I was in the second class graduating with that degree.