Classmate Profile: Codi Mills

The only thing she wanted as her going away present was a bookshelf.

That was the only gift Codi Mills asked her father for as she left for San Jose State University to follow her passion in photography.

When she got there, she took all of the neat little decorations and items off her dorm room shelves to make room for all the books she purchased from the Martin Luther King Library patio sale on the San Jose State University campus.

“It was the greatest Tetris game of my life,” said Codi Mills, about fitting all the books she purchased in one bag.

Mills loves to read anything, and attributes books to the person she is now and to the career path she has chosen in photography claiming that her personality was shaped by books from a young age.

“Books made me a thoughtful person,” said Mills. “I got that sense of freedom and imagination from books.”

According to Art Mills, Codi’s father, Codi picked up reading on her own with no influence from her parents.

“Some people enjoy watching TV, but for her it was reading,” said Art Mills. “She at one point mentioned that she was going to read the dictionary.”

Codi’s family runs a self-employed business known as Mills’ Plumbing and they didn’t have much time for vacations when she was young.

“We would take Codi on things called mini-vacations where we would drive back roads,” said Art Mills.

Codi also remembers that during those mini-vacations she would climb an old oak tree in her backyard and pretend she was a heroine.

But, probably more important to Codi were her books and how they brought her so many viewpoints and interpretations on life. “It’s the ability to see life through a different lens,” said Mills.

This is where Codi ties reading into photography, the connection between telling people’s stories and yet leave them up to interpretation.
“Interestingly enough, I don’t want to be in written journalism,” said Mills. “Writing alienates sections of the world, and I would hate a universal language.”

Codi explained that this is where the value of photography lies, in the universal language of visuals.

“In photography you can freeze the truth as it is,” said Mills.

According to Codi’s boyfriend, Quenton Fletcher, photography is a subject that naturally comes to Codi. “It fits her very much because she’s an outgoing person who loves to explore new places and this is definitely something that will allow her to adventure until her heart’s content.”

Codi’s father also believes in her choice of study. “She could do anything, she is an excellent student, but I think she can change the world.”

Codi’s goal is to change the world and educate people about different cultures and show them places that they couldn’t normally see for themselves.

“If I can do one small part and educate one person, that’s enough.”

The girl who reads and imagines herself in faraway lands plans to bring those lands to people through the pictures she takes.