Elijah Rodes

My name is Elijah Christopher Rodes. I am a YLAB student at One Stone’s Lab51, an avid hunter, and a friend’s friend. Through my work at One Stone, I’ve developed a personal statement that describes the motivation behind why I do what I do. My statement or motto is “to explore and enjoy the Lord’s creation so that I may share stories and connect with others.” The artifact I’ve chosen to share is related to who I am and what I love to do and think about. My artifact is a picture of me with the first elk I harvested on a hunt. This artifact is particularly relevant to me and what I try to share with the others because hunting is a way for me to explore the world and earn stories that I share with others. Hunting means many different things to me. It is a way that I enjoy the land, grow closer to God, provide food for my family, gain great stories to share with others, and grow deeper relationships with people I care about. Over the past 10 weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to explore various topics related to hunting in an academic setting. In particular, I’ve been exploring why people hunt, what problems exist within the sport, and misconceptions associated with hunting. This is important to me personally, and it’s important to my community. In my studies and in interviews I’ve held over the past few months, I’ve learned that a few bad apples in the hunting community can make the whole barrel of apples look rotten. I’ve learned that there are poachers and unsafe people who hold themselves out to be hunters, yet fail to uphold basic safety rules, do not live up to the ethics of the community, and are just plain immoral. I now communicate with folks with a more educated lens and am applying design thinking principles to improve the safety and well-being of the hunting community. For me, hunting is a lifestyle and provides a way for me to work as a steward of God’s creation, to grow closer to Him and others, to have good food, and to live a healthy and exciting life. Hunting has been a huge part of my life, and I am very thankful I get to explore this topic at school.