Collector Spotlight: Kayla Haugen

1) How many years have you been collecting and what started your passion?

I began “seriously” collecting in high school, which would be about 10 years or so? My parents liked visiting caves during family vacations, so I was hooked early on. I remember standing inside the Mammoth Caves as a kid and being astounded. For every family vacation, I’d ask if there was a cave to see. Every cave had something unique that made it amazing or beautiful. Usually there was a gift shop, and they had some basic minerals for sale like amethyst and pyrite. Some shops would sell those bags of dirt with minerals mixed in, the kind you dump into a sluice and rinse the dirt away to see what was hidden inside. I loved identifying which minerals I had in the bag using the identification card that came with it. I’d bring home those rocks and arrange them on a shelf and look at them all the time. They weren’t just reminders of the trips we took, but also a glimpse of a whole mineralogical world to learn more about. Eventually that interest in different kinds of minerals turned me into a full-blown collector.

2) What's the focus of your collection and has that changed through time? Why?

I wish I had a better answer to this question, but my collection has never felt very focused to me. I don’t have specific criteria in mind when I choose specimens. It’s all just a beautiful mix and match of things that I like. I do know that when I first started collecting, I hardly had duplicates of anything. I would always spend my money on something I’d never seen before. In the beginning, that was easy to do because it was all new to me. I think that was a really great way for me to start collecting, because I had exposure to so many different things for the first few years. For the past two years or so, I've had a serious fluorite fascination... but I still wouldn't call it a focus. It's just what I'm enjoying the most right now.

3) What do you like to do outside of mineral collecting? (hobbies, job, music taste, etc).

I like to play video games (Red Dead Redemption 2 is my jam, but Planet Coaster has become a favorite too.) I recently discovered Stardew Valley and now I’m hopelessly obsessed. One of my more recent hobbies is jigsaw puzzles, I think I’ve finished about 10 of those in the past year. At one point in life, I wanted to be a writer, and I had a strong chance at being accepted into a selective fiction writing masters program. But I ended up not applying, and I didn’t write for several years after that. I love to write so I’m trying to get back into it. I’m terrible at keeping plants alive, but I manage to grow a patch of sunflowers every summer. I grow a mix of yellow and orange and red sunflowers because I just love the bright colors. I really enjoy music from Linkin Park, Bring Me the Horizon, I Prevail, and Theory of a Deadman (just to name a few favorites). And I love taking naps with my cat, Noodles!

4. What's your favorite species? Why?

Wulfenite! I have many different species on my shelves, but I loved wulfenite when I first started and I still love it now. Wulfenite is great because I could find affordable pieces when I first started collecting, and now I've gradually worked my way up to some really amazing specimens. I love how brightly colored they are. I also really enjoy the variety of aesthetics within the species. Window-pane specimens from the San Francisco Mine are probably my all time favorite kind of wulfenite. I’d love to own a dioptase/wulfenite combo one day.

5. Have you been to any shows? If so, what's your favorite part of them? If not, are there any particular ones you would want to experience one day?

Our small town had a show every year. The first time I went, I was disappointed because most of the tables were jewelry. Then I found Keith. His tables were FULL of the specimens I’d been dreaming about. I spent forever gawking at crystals that seemed otherworldly to me (he had a whole section of Tsumeb, and let’s be honest, that would hook anyone.) He walked up to me and said, “You know, there’s more boxes under the table. You’re welcome to look through them.” He gave me a cushion to sit on, a flashlight, and pulled up the tablecloth to reveal stacks of flats under the folding tables. I spent the whole afternoon looking through and asking questions. Keith knew I didn’t have a big budget, and he knew I was still learning. He could have dismissed me and tried to focus on other sales. But in my experience, this hobby is less about the money and more about the passion for learning. That’s my favorite part about shows. I left that show with a few common specimens that I loved with all my heart, and a whole new outlook on the hobby. Keith spent one afternoon fostering an interest in a beginner—and it changed me for a lifetime. You never know what sort of an impression you might make on someone at a show!

6. What fuels your enthusiasm for mineral collecting?

There’s something magical about holding a fragile piece of the earth in your hands—a piece that against all odds, has stayed intact and beautiful long enough for you to enjoy it in your lifetime—and you’re given the honor of keeping it that way in your collection. Literally every specimen in your collection is unique! There is not another one exactly like it anywhere in the world. So part of my enthusiasm comes from knowing that in our hobby, we all hold a little piece of something unique to only us.

7. What impact has YMC had on you as a collector and where do you see it heading in the future?

For a long time, I felt very alone in this hobby. YMC has had a big impact on me because it’s reassured me that there are many others who love rocks with the same passion that I do. YMC also made me realize that I AM a young collector. It had never occurred to me that I was on the lower end of the age range for this hobby. Now that I’m conscious of it, I try harder than ever before to share this hobby with the next generation. Every spring, ever since I was in high school, I have worked with a local school during their Math and Science Night. I bring several specimens and arrange them on a table, show them to the kids who approach me, and answer their questions. The kids who stare in awe at the rocks make me hopeful for the future. When I tell them that they can become a collector too, they just light up. No one has ever offered that idea to them. I’ve heard countless parents tell me that their child loves rocks, but they don’t know what the next steps are to foster that interest. I also bring rocks to my mom's first grade classroom every year and watch as these small children fall in love with something they didn't even know existed. For weeks after my visits, they will bring my mom different rocks and tell her they are going to start a collection like me. I really like using my enthusiasm for the hobby to spark enthusiasm in these kids. I think with groups like YMC and a lot of work on our part, we can open this hobby for the next generation and pave the way for them to be confident, connected collectors.