I work security for a small University in East Texas. While the long hours and no sleep sometimes drain me, what you discover on the job makes it all worth it. Before taking the position, I was accustomed to not getting much sleep in the U.S. Navy, but I didn't start appreciating being the only one awake until I got to see some of the amazing sights that only the early solitude morning offer.

When 70s era architecture covered in windows is combined with what is likely the most stunning sunrise I have ever seen, it creates an image that seems a little too good to be true.

We have an old WWII era chapel on campus left over from when the university was an Army hospital. It's like a step back in time, and it makes the perfect focal point when laid in front of a stunning sunrise.

This next image is probably one of my favorites I captured while on the job.

See if you can notice anything off about it, or even figure out what it is.

The picture is actually that of a pond on a foggy morning, except I flipped it to give it that extra space age feeling. What you see as the "sky" above is actually the reflection of the sky "below."

Story Time

So, one day on shift I got a panicked call from some residents in one of our buildings. It was hard to make out over the duty phone, so when I arrived, I was not expecting what I found. A hot water pipe burst in the ceiling, which basically made the entire first floor a steam sauna. It was like a war zone, except one that deeply exfoliated your skin. There was also lots of soggy ceiling tiles, warzones may have that, but I couldn't tell you. Add to that steaming situation blaring and strobing alarms, and it got kind of stressful. I captured the following eerie image while trying to wade through the mess. Yes, I'm that person who takes photographs during emergencies because I think things look cool. Don't judge me.

The firefighters soon arrived and we had to wade through what was by then ankle deep, very hot water. We eventually found the valve and cleaned up the gigantic mess. 40 people had to move, and I'm glad I wasn't one of them. It wouldn't have been as much fun if it was my stuff getting ruined.

Now on to more sunrise pictures, because when you work midnight to 8 a.m., you find anything that makes you happy and you take a picture of it. I have too many pictures of squirrels on my phone. Maybe it's the fluffy tail or the cute little nose. Okay, I'm getting off topic.

Even if I was feeling tired, there was something about knowing I was the only person awake seeing something this beautiful and unique.

The belltower on campus is laid out on a long stretch of land, encompassed by a wall of trees. I love how the lines in the image above direct your eye to the sky, no matter where you look.

We need more things like that in life.

If you haven't ever witnessed a country sunrise, hopefully, these pictures are starting to indicate that it's something you should probably add to your bucket list.

Hopefully these images looked a lot less like a white girl's Instagram with captions of #blessed and #sunrise and a little more like a collection of moments in my mornings, when the only thing that was exciting was the earth rotating just a little bit more, giving me a glimpse of the sun in all of its glory.