Personal Vision

A young child shines in the light as they leave the sanctuary of Patria Church during a service on February 23, 2025, in Rancho Cucamonga.

Reflected in a pond, nature enthusiast stop by the binocular challenge looking for birds and other wildlife during the Family Bird Festival on Sunday, February 16, 2025, at the California Botanic Gardens in Claremont. 

Portrait session for a couple taken at a car wash

A tunnel near campus is permanently lit with LEDs that display colors all day and all night.

A 1950's Pontiac shows the way to the future.

I reach out, but nothing is there. Nothing has ever been there. Nothing will ever be there again.

Pain doesn’t turn you into something noble. It turns you into something unrecognizable. I don’t know when it happened. I don’t know when I stopped being a person. But I know I’m not me anymore.

I gave everything to a world that took everything from me. My sons died, and I was told to accept it. To move on. To find peace. But what does peace mean to someone who’s lost everything? I let the hatred in. I let it fill every hollow space inside me. I wanted the world to suffer as I have. I wanted to break the gates of heaven and take back what was mine. This is the other side of me. 

I thought faith would save me. That’s why I put it on my back—so I could carry it, so it could carry me. But when I lost my sons, all I felt was the weight. My parents told me to pray. I told them I was done. I ripped it away in my mind long before I ever touched my skin.

Kay Borkowski (Left) embraces newly announced Appalachian State University Chancellor Heather Norris (Right). Kay is the wife of former Chancellor Frank Borokowski, who passed away just over a month ago.