For as long as I can remember, I've had a fascination with the ocean. From watching nature specials on TV, I gained a healthy respect for ferocious predators such as the great white shark and a sense of wonder for fantastic creatures such as octopus, jellyfish and squid. I had therefore determined long ago that marine biology would be one of the coolest things to study, ever. I could just imagine myself swimming around in a coral reef, seeing all the beautiful colors of the flora and fauna, the gentle glow of the sun making everything look picture-perfect.
I still remember the first time that I remember going to the ocean. It was down in the Gulf of Mexico, when my family flew out to visit my Grandparents in Houston. Having grown up in the rocky mountains, it was very strange to see such a vast expanse of water. I was so accustomed to having a landmark range of mountains in every direction that I looked, that I felt afraid—afraid that I would most certainly get lost if I ever tried to sail off by myself.
A few years later, while visiting another one of my Grandparents on the east coast, I had the opportunity to go visit the Atlantic Ocean. Even though we went in the middle of the summer, it was quite chilly at the beach. It was windy, wet, and certainly not what I’d been expecting. I went out and had a blast anyway, collecting sea shells, getting knocked over by waves and getting sand into every nook and cranny of my body imaginable. I still remember finding sand in my hair weeks afterwards. As an unexpected portion of this trip, however, I had the opportunity to actually go out on a boat in the ocean for the first time. Well, OK so it was more of a ferry—but still! It was my first time being on a sea-borne vessel. We went from Crisfield, Maryland out to one of the little islands just off the coast of Virginia. I remember distinctly how terrifying it was for me to not be able to see the bottom, and realizing that it was a good long ways down to the bottom.
The ocean, like many other things in my life, makes me afraid--because of the unknown. How deep is it, really? How far to the bottom? What could be lurking just below the surface? I've found that oftentimes life can be very much the same. You can try and guess what's going to happen in the future, and to some extent you can see it--but the likelihood of the unexpected is high. This makes life both terrifying and exhilarating, depending on how you look at it. All the same, life leaves me asking: How long will it last? What could be waiting for me just around the corner? We cannot foresee what will come, so whether we worry ourselves to death or go along carefree the future will come at us all the same, hard and fast. All we can do is make the best of it.
