It is only fitting to start this series with a post about Lawrence. You know those people you meet for just a fleeting moment but stick with you forever? That’s Lawrence. My week with him was one of the most impactful of my life. I even have a “portrait” that I drew tattooed on my ankle. It’s admittedly cartoony, but I still think it captures his essence: simple and kind. The big, almost floppy ears may be artistic license, but the one crooked horn is (in the artist’s own opinion) spot on. Did I forget to mention that Lawrence was a giraffe?

My first day in Kenya I had no idea what I was in for. All I heard about on our days long journey from Nairobi to Mugie Ranch was this mythical Lawrence character. Interns and staff who had been there before were aflutter with excitement to see him again. “Do you think he’ll come by camp this year?” “I wonder if he’ll remember me.” “Remember that time he almost knocked Tom Canny over? Classic Lawrence!”

When we finally arrived it was pitch black. We got out of the cars and could only see the glow of a fire, the Milky Way above, and fleeting glances of bushes or trees caught in the spotlights of the headlamps bobbing along in the distance. I made my way to the pile of duffel bags to find my belongings. My instincts told me to go to the known, I walked towards the fire where I could at least tell there was cleared ground for me to pitch my tent. Instead I was turned around and told to walk into the dark and unknown. With my flashlight in hand I fumbled together my tent (thankfully I set it up once before I left), crawled inside, and went to sleep.

When I opened my eyes in the morning I looked around half expecting Rafiki to hold me up above his head. We were camped on a beautiful bluff in the most classic African safari scene popular culture could have fathomed. Out in the distance I could see giraffes pruning the tops of acacia trees, zebra prancing in the tall grass, and elephants flapping their ears. I was in freaking Africa, camped under the canopy of a picturesque acacia tree and surrounded by the cast of the Lion King. But it wasn’t until Lawrence stopped by that the reality of it all fully set in.

The first time I met Lawrence we were coming back to camp from a game drive. We had spent hours driving alongside antelope, zebra, elephants, and even ostriches. Even so, we all needed a moment to register the giraffe walking around our tents. The excitement was palpable. I jumped out of the car before it even came to a complete stop to snap one – or twenty – pictures of Lawrence up close.

Over the week that we were camped at Mugie we went from treating Lawrence like Justin Bieber to the neighbor you politely nod your head at when you happen to run into each other checking for the mail. Lawrence had been predominately raised around humans by the rangers and staff at Mugie Ranch. He preferred to hang out with people than to be around the other giraffes on the reserve. So whenever groups camped up on the bluff he’d stop by to hang out and catch up. He’d stand in the middle of the road in the mornings as we tried to drive out to our scheduled activities, he’d lounge about in camp during our mid-day break, and he’d eat leaves from the bush next to the fire as we all ate our dinner.

Lawrence had a particular affinity for Dr. Jack Harris, the director of the Koobi Fora Field School. Jack had been at Mugie year after year, and it seemed like Lawrence remembered him fondly. One mid-afternoon break Jack decided to go take a shower, and loyal Lawrence faithfully waited for his dear friend to return. Unfortunately, Jack was not in the mood for fun and games. He tried desperately to entice the giraffe to move away from his tent so he could get dressed inside. Lawrence would not budge. I will never forget the pain in my stomach from laughing so hard watching Jack towel-whip and unimpressed giraffe. Jack then yelled for the rangers’ assistance. One had the brilliant idea to bribe him with a branch of tasty leaves. When Lawrence bent down to take a bite, the ranger put his own hat on Lawrence’s head, in one word – priceless.

Moments like that will forever bring a smile to my face as I remember fondly my first field experience in physical anthropology. My first time at Koobi Fora was arguably the most important for shaping my professional and personal life. Amidst the excitement, fear, homesickness, real sickness, and wonder I simultaneously felt during my 6 weeks in Kenya I discovered my passion and purpose. Lawrence, and what he turned out to represent for me, was a big part of that.

By the end of the 6 weeks we were expected to submit our field notebooks with detailed descriptions of our work. At the very end I penned “The Chronicles of Lawrence,” a comic strip that showed Lawrence’s discovery that we had left Mugie Ranch, and his perilous journey to be reunited with Jack. Along the way, Lawrence runs into some setbacks, many of which alluded to our own events and inside jokes. Through the chronicles Lawrence became our mascot.

Four months after my return to the states I ventured up to Rutgers University to hear a talk by Susana Carvalho, one of the instructors on the field school. Since at the time the field school was run through Rutgers, about half of the students went there. I was excited to see many of the people I had made such intense bonds with that summer, but was also a little nervous that outside of Kenya we wouldn’t be the same cohesive group. I could not be more wrong. That night was incredible. We laughed and reminisced as if we were still seated around the campfire. The next morning, after a famous New Jersey diner breakfast, I was taken to a tattoo shop where I presented my artist with the most adorable of my drawings of Lawrence from the chronicles. One of the interns who had guided me through my time in Kenya held my hand as Lawrence physically became an enduring part of me.

Unfortunately, a few days after our reunion we were all saddened to learn that Lawrence had been killed by poachers on Mugie Ranch. They entered the grounds in the dead of night to hunt for the protected white Rhinos. Lawrence’s innocence and affinity for people made him excited to see these poachers. Little did he know of their wicked intentions.

We were all devastated. Lawrence became a part of all of us, a tangible mascot for the transformative summer we shared at Koobi Fora. I try to keep him alive in my work and passion; I try to learn from his character; I try to follow what I love without fear or hesitation.