Neck muscles cramping from long airplane rides, tasting the fresh sea salt from the ocean’s waves and feeling delighted after helping others are all things Nicole Gray, senior, experienced this summer. Gray spent her summer exploring Scotland as part of a project called “People to People”, surfed in California at a surf camp and volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization. The most interesting part of Gray’s summer was spent doing something she had never done before, leaving the country with no one she knew.

Gray loves to explore the outdoors and visit new places whenever possible. In June, she packed her bags for Scotland, the land of loch and legends. The main reason for going to Scotland was as a student ambassador program called People to People.

“Scotland looks exactly like Oregon so there wasn’t much of a change but it was still a really cool experience,” Gray said. “The best part of traveling with this program was meeting new people.”

Gray’s next destination plan is for Australia which for her would be the perfect combination of her travel interests and her surfing interests.

Every summer Gray travels to Newport Beach, Calif, for Surf Camp. Gray is considering on going to school in California partly because she would “surf every single day.”

“I go surfing in the morning, it helps me relax and relieve stress,” Gray said. “I have been instructed since I was in fifth grade. I have friends down there so it is super fun to hit the waves with them.”

Gray enjoys being out of state, but according to her she belongs in her West Linn home helping out her community.

This summer she took photographs for Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that builds homes for communities. She was taking photographs of the people for the Habitat for Humanity website.

Gray is proficient in photography as she has taken journalism for three years and two years of photography class. “I plan on using the experience and everything I learned from Habitat for Humanity in journalism class,” Gray said.

“Niki is great for the Amplifier.” Camille Collier, senior, Editor in chief of the Amplifier, said. “She is our head photographer and always has high quality photos that we can put up in our website.”