During an ordinary day of English class, a genius idea came to my head. In the beginning of the period in Brian Hancock’s class, we were doing our normal routine of a bell ringer to start off the class. A bell ringer is a prompt that makes the class think, reflect, and wakes up our brain to learn for the day. On this morning, we were asked to come up with a task to do for 30 days straight that would create good habits or just try a new thing.

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I liked the concept of the bell ringer: creating a good habit or trying something new for 30 days could help you grow in character, make you a more interesting person, or even help you create permanent change to your daily routine. I gave a hard thought on this challenge when Hancock encouraged us to pursue our ideas for 30 days. I have always been interested in photography and am always looking for ways to improve with technology, so I decided to take 30 pictures in 30 days and share with you my results.

Over the 30 days, I took adventures, relived some childhood memories, and found that I was gradually improving the quality of my photos. My adventures in Kentucky, where all the photos were taken, ranged from nature and wild animals, buildings, and even climbing a tree. Overall, I enjoyed my 30-day journey and I encourage the people who read this article to choose to embark on their own adventure. You might find taking your own 30-day challenge will help you better yourself, get out of your comfort zone, go on a fun adventure, or possibly,, help you find a way to accomplish your dreams.

Special thanks to Mr. Hancock for the inspiration. Here are my results.

Gallery • 42 Photos

*Editor’s note: The gallery is more than 30 photos – the project evolved into making sure Schmidt took at least one photo of his surroundings every day.