“I think it’s incredible to see how people live from up here,” says Tom Vernon as he looks out the window of his small plane. Vernon has been in the sky for the past thirty years, working as a “taxi” service for missionaries in Africa, as a UPS pilot, and flying on his own for fun. | Skyler Ballard

WKU Forward Dwight Coleby (22) goes up for two as he is defended by ODU Forward Trey Porter (15) during the Hilltoppers 88-66 win over on Saturday Feb. 24, 2018 at E.A Diddle Arena. | Shaban Athuman

Joe Reed, 21, from Buffalo, NY listens to music on his cellphone before his match at the first annual Louisville Select Boxing Championship. Reed would go on to win the match. “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog. I had a great time in Louisville, drove down here with my team and Coach Nick treated us right, stayed in a nice hotel and the event was crazy. Winning was a part of the fight,” Reed said. | Michael Blackshire

Patrick McGee Sr., 53, was once a convicted felon who served in a Illinois State Prison. Recently incarcerated, he now is reconnecting with his family in Louisville, Ky to commemorate the loss of his son Louis McGee Jr., who was murdered March 28, 2017. “Getting that call, a call I never wanted to hear. I just knew that call was coming. I’m staying in Louisville with my wife trying to make this thing work. We have two other children still alive. I want my family to know I’m wanting to get better. I’m doing my best to stay here until the 28th to remember my son. It’s hard, but I’m doing my best not to catch that bus back to Illinois,” McGee Sr. said. | Michael Blackshire

Deacon Tyrone D. Booker Sr. holds the obituary of his son Tyrone D. Booker Jr., who was murdered in 2015 from gun violence in the back of a gas station. Tyrone D. Booker Jr. was apart of the misidentified four, who were a group of four young black males who were falsely accused of assault which lead to a 1.5 million dollar settlement. “My son had a target on his back after that settlement deal. Him and the three other young man became Louisville Legends. I told my son not everyone is your friend. People out there know who you are. I asked God why did you take my son. Why after seeing him being falsely imprisoned did you take him from this world, and he told me he needed to go home because he was in trouble in this world,” Deacon Booker said. | Michael Blackshire

WKU Forward Justin Johnson (23) walks off the court following the Hilltoppers 67-66 loss in the championship game of the Conference USA tournament against Marshall University on Saturday March 10, 2018 at The Star in Frisco, Tx. | Shaban Athuman

WKU Forward Tashia Brown (10) look to make a free throw during the Lady Toppers 78-50 win in first game of the Conference USA tournament against University of Texas at San Antonio on Thursday March 8, 2018 at The Star in Frisco, Tx. | Shaban Athuman

Hilltoppers’ Ben Morrison pitches during a winning game against Belmont at the Nick Denes Field, February 20th. The Hilltoppers defeated the Belmont 4-1. | Fahad Alotaibi

William Edmonds and Chloe Henderson from ONYX model management. | Emily Moses

Chloe Henderson, ONYX model from Huntsville, Alabama. | Emily Moses

Harlem Globetrotter’s guard “Flip” swings off the hoop after climbing on top to block the Washington General’s shots during their performance on Monday, Mar. 12, 2018 in E.A. Diddle Arena. | Silas Walker

Ole Miss sprinter Alvin Westbrook competes in the 400 meter dash during Vanderbilt’s Music City Challenge on Saturday Feb. 10, 2018 at Vanderbilt Rec. Center and Indoor Track Facility in Nashville, Tennessee. | Shaban Athuman

When we were younger, I knew him as Didier. We sat next to each other in the one-room schoolhouse in Tanzania for three years, watching the dirt from the floor blow through the room. It was a rainy day in third grade when he told me goodbye and he moved across the ocean with his family. The next time I saw him was in the living room of his parents home in Louisville, Kentucky. He introduced himself as Jimmy. He didn’t have a foreign sounding name or an accent, like I do. Fifteen years after sitting beside him in the one-room schoolhouse 7,851 miles away, we now go to the same college. We still remember the close knit family feeling of the refugee camp. | Shaban Athuman

A cowboy prepares to ride out into the arena of the Agricultural Exposition Center on Sunday during the Lone Star Rodeo. The rodeo featured more then 6 events including bareback bronc riding and bull riding. | Silas Walker

WKU cheerleaders run on the court before the Hilltopper 83-76 win on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018, at E.A. Diddle Arena, in Bowling Green, Ky. | Evan Mattingly

Florida International University guard Josh Stamps (0) dunks during the Panthers 83-76 loss to to Western Kentucky University at E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Ky. | Shaban Athuman

Head Coach Rick Stansbury listens as the team is introduced before taking on Florida International University on Saturday Feb. 10, 2018 at E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green. | Shaban Athuman

Julian Rodriguez plays with his son Christopher at their home on Pueblo’s East Side. Julian’s decades long struggle with addiction brought him intimately close to the gang operations as he often bought from and sold for the gangs in order to support his own addiction. With his son, Christopher on the way, he achieved sobriety and had his facial skeleton tattooed to remember his commitment to his son and to commemorate his brother “Bone Head” who was killed in a shootout with the police. “Everything that I desire and want in this life is for that boy.” Christopher will grow up on the East Side, in Duke territory, but Julian hopes that a loving relationship with his father can keep him from that lifestyle. | Gabriel Scarlett

Stephen Logsdon, 33, is attending second year at the Vette City Con and plans to keep coming to them as long as they keep having them. Logsdon dressed up as Harley Quinn and had handmade almost everything from the bat to the hammer. Vette City Con will be held for their second year of performances and event venues at the National Corvette Museum on Saturday Jan. 27, 2018 and Sunday Jan. 28, 2018. | Shaban Athuman

Stephen Logsdon, 33, is attending his second year at the Vette City Con and plans to attend more as long as they keep having them. Logsdon dressed up as Harley Quinn and had handmade almost everything from the bat to the hammer. | Tyger Williams

A young gang banger, age 14, visits the memorial site for one of his fallen brothers, another of the Los Carnales East Side Dukes. He has embraced this dangerous lifestyle and says that he wants to ‘bang’ for the rest of his life, just like his family members. “Ya know, you just gotta be out here and follow orders and do what you’re told,” he said. “That’s how I’mma make a name for myself.” | Gabriel Scarlett

Once a prison yard shot caller with fifty men under his command, Johnny has since chosen a path away from the Los Carnales gang and into a welding job in Denver. He drives two hours each day to work. Finding employment as a convict took him years, but he feels that he owes it to the next felon to work hard and not burn those who have given him a chance. “I am proof that it is possible.” | Gabriel Scarlett

DaeQuan Smith, 24, holds a locally made t-shirt of his brother, Kentrail Robbins, who was murdered in 2012 in a still unresolved case. “My older brother was a handsome young man. Plenty females. Always dressed nice. Someone I could look up to. He never fronted on me either; he always looked out for me and my sister. We have the same parents you know. Grew up in the same house and wore the same clothes. Last time I saw him was in the mall and I told him to buy me some new shoes and he was with his friends and he tried to front and say he wouldn’t buy me some new shoes but I knew he would. Last time I saw him. It seems I loose at least two friends a year. Every time I go back to school I loose a friend and that takes a hold of me when the semester starts,” Smith said. | Michael Blackshire

Aspire Academy forward T.J. Smith (1) reaches for a rebound during the ‘Hooping on the Hill’ tournament at Bowling Green High School. Aspire Academy won 70-45 vs. Bella Vista. | Silas Walker

Tyreon Clark lines up his Boys to Men Leadership students before they go to class at Parker Bennet Curry Elementary School. Clark gives each of his kids a handshake or high-five. “It’s up to people like me to be responsible for the development of programs like this” Clark said about the leadership programs he is involved with. | Silas Walker

Julian Rodriguez plays with his son Christopher at their home on Pueblo’s East Side. Julian’s decades long struggle with addiction brought him intimately close to the gang operations as he often bought from and sold for the gangs in order to support his own addiction. With his son, Christopher on the way, he achieved sobriety and had his facial skeleton tattooed to remember his commitment to his son and to commemorate his brother “Bone Head” who was killed in a shootout with the police. “Everything that I desire and want in this life is for that boy.” Christopher will grow up on the East Side, in Duke territory, but Julian hopes that a loving relationship with his father can keep him from that lifestyle. | Gabriel Scarlett