Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece, and welcome to the Get Inspired! Project for Berks County Living Magazine. Today, my guest is Carrie Kizuka. Welcome, Carrie, to the Project.
Carrie Kizuka: Thank you, Toni. I’m glad to be here.
Toni: So, Carrie, take a minute and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Carrie: I am a Berks County native who pursued a few different passions, left temporarily, and came back. I’m a graduate from Governor Mifflin High School that went on to earn a mechanical engineering degree from Lehigh University. Then, my adventures took me to Japan to teach engineering design, then over to California to design snowboard boots. Then, I started an adventure in education and ended up wanting to raise my family back here in Berks County, so my family and I packed up and we moved back to Pennsylvania.
Toni: Well, good for us!
Carrie: I’m happy to be back.
Toni: Alright. Let’s go into the Project. What does inspiration mean to you?
Carrie: To me, inspiration is the process that moves someone to do or feel something. I really think that inspiration is the spark that puts ideas into motion, and turns them into actions. I personally feel that I’m the most creative, driven, focused and motivated when I feel inspired.
Toni: Do you remember the last time you were inspired?
Carrie: I’m inspired every day by my family, by strangers that I see just being kind and doing the right thing, so I don’t have really big inspirational moments that stand out, but a lot of little moments that I just try to acknowledge and notice every day.
Toni: So it’s a physical feeling for you?
Carrie: For me, yes. I think it really is.
Toni: Okay; so you know when it’s happening.
Carrie: Yeah.
Toni: That’s awesome.
Carrie: It’s hard to describe, but I know it when I feel it.
Toni: That’s right. Okay, so when you feel that or you notice the small or even the large moments that inspire you, how do you put that into practice here in Berks County?
Carrie: I think back to when I was inspired to become a teacher, and then later a photographer by people who saw passions inside of me, and urged me to develop them into talents. I became inspired by people who saw things in me that I hadn’t necessarily realized myself, and I needed that help and that guidance. I’ve been really blessed by people who have inspired me along the way.
As an educator, I hope to inspire others to become the best versions of themselves that they can be, to chase their dreams, to push through obstacles. Just today before I came here for the interview I was speaking with a class of freshman students at Wilson High School, talking about my adventures and how I’ve been inspired, and trying to inspire them to follow their passions, to follow the math and science path when it might not necessarily be the easier, popular thing to do. It’s interesting. I just came from there.
As I worked to complete my own Ph.D., I try to model perseverance and grit, and pushing through obstacles. Once I earn my Ph.D., I want to use my degree and the knowledge that I’ve gained throughout this process to hopefully improve education locally and maybe on a larger scale.
Then, there’s my job as a photographer where I try to capture meaningful moments for other people using my creative eye that I’ve been given. I try to inspire them to lead joy-filled lives, and to not take moments for granted. I try to inspire others however I can in the many diverse passions that I have.
Toni: Do you think people are lacking inspiration, or don’t realize it when it hits them in their face?
Carrie: That’s a great question. I think sometimes I don’t know if they lack the inspiration, but again, I think sometimes they’re not picking up on it. I’ve been guilty of this, walking down the street with my head in my phone and texting. We’re always plugged in. I think a lot of the human connection is lacking these days. I think if people took some more time to notice, they might see all of the opportunities for inspiration that are out there. I think sometimes you just need a little wakeup call to be able to take a step back and get a bigger picture. Change the lens that you’re looking at your life through, and it’s there, just waiting to be noticed.
Toni: Actually, that’s the lesson that I’m learning from you during this interview, and actually the pre-interview. You have had a very diverse path with your career, so listening to what you want to give back, it sounds like part of that is to open people’s paths to inspiration, opportunities and possibilities.
Carrie: Yeah. I think that’s a great way to put it. Thank you. You’ve really nailed what I was trying to come to terms with saying. Yes. I agree.
Toni: So, who in Berks County inspires you?
Carrie: It seems like a cliché answer, but it really is my family. My mom, my husband, my three daughters. Each one for a different reason. My mom has had her own unique set of challenges and struggles in order to raise me and my brother the best way that she could. She’s the most selfless person I know. She’s given up and sacrificed so much.
My husband, he’s another teacher in Berks County. He’s the most hardworking person that I know. He’s always putting our family first, and he sacrifices so that I can follow my dreams, and my kids can follow theirs. He will tend to put his own needs below those of others, and I notice it, and I don’t think I always acknowledge that I appreciate it as much as I should.
Then, my kids. I have three amazing daughters that are students at Wilson High School. They help keep me young at heart. They amaze me with their talents, their generosity, their kindness, their resilience, their independence, and their fantastic sense of humor. Those are all traits that I want to make sure that I cherish, value and demonstrate myself as I grow up and continue to move on through life.
There’s people that I don’t know the names of in Berks County that I’ve just met by chance, and they haven’t been afraid to take calculated risks to accomplish goals or to follow their hearts. Really, I’m continually inspired by anyone who gives of themselves to help others and doesn’t necessarily expect anything in return. People who are brave and kind, they really inspire me. I don’t always have a name for their face, but I notice it, and it means a lot.
Toni: I think that’s the common theme that you gave for your husband and your mother and your children. That was definitely a common theme running through there. So, Carrie, what would you like to your legacy to be?
Carrie: Honestly, I’ve been struggling with this for a few years. I think I have a bigger calling. I don’t necessarily…I haven’t figured out what it is. It led me to Haiti two years ago to volunteer at an orphanage. I just have this itch that there’s something bigger that I’m meant to do, but until I figure out what that big thing is, I want to make the world a better place in little ways, just by my presence. I do that, I think, by instilling in people a sense of confidence, a sense of hope. I try to lead by example. I try to be silly. I try to be funny. I want to be remembered as that person who took risks, who traveled the world, who got all those crazy tattoos that I wanted. The girl who rescued puppies and crossed things off my bucket list every day. I want to live every day like it could be my last day that I’m alive.
It’s funny, there’s a quote from the movie “Shawshank Redemption” that I think of often, and that my stepfather said once to me before he passed away a few years ago. It was, “I guess it comes down to a simple choice. Get busy living, or get busy dying.” I wake up every day, and I think of that quote. I can't think of a day that’s gone by that I haven’t thought of it, and really, every day we wake up, we have that choice. I want to inspire people to get busy living, because that’s what I’m choosing to do. I hope to lead by example.
Toni: What a fantastic interview! Seriously, you did a great job, and you have inspired me. Thank you so very much for showing up for the Get Inspired! Project.
Carrie: Thank you, Toni. This has been great.
Toni: Thank you.
