As I stood on the board, I imagined myself soaring through the air, picturing every move I made until sliding into the water as perfectly as possible. I competed as a Springboard Diver for six years. Diving helped me discover and further explore the nature behind what motivates me and keeps me mental strong and capable, which is now an immense aspect of who I am. Although I am no longer a Springboard Diver, it still influences aspects of my everyday life. Diving is unique in how it is more mentally taxing than it is physically.…
We were ready. Paddles in hand, canoe by our side, personal floatation devices, knee pads, and cameras. The afternoon sun shined on the lake, reflecting it across the calm waters. Crowds of people were enjoying their Sunday afternoon on North Beach at Devil’s Lake State Park. Young children stumbled on the moist sand and shallow waters as they tried to catch tadpoles with their small buckets. Soothing, a gentle breeze passed by as we walked towards the edge of Devil’s Lake. Marveling at the majestic mountain of cedars around the lake and smelling the damp sand, my dad, little sister, and I were all set to take on our first wilderness inquiry; canoeing across a lake. It was safe to say that we were in for an exciting adventure…
Hey guys! Today I went on a crazy adventure to somewhere I have never been before! I flowed down a cascade mountain range and into the amazing and beautiful Columbia river.My friends I met in the mountains and are now headed to the mouth/ delta of the river the Pacific ocean where we will hopefully be evaporated again.We just exited the headwaters and will be entering some tributaries along our journey. Although, this river doesn’t have many dangers I am concerned of entering a creek because I like going straight to the ocean to be evaporated again because water droplets like me love to travel! This has been a pretty easy journey so far but I have got to say I have been a bit chilly. The weather down here has been around 25-30 degrees so that…
Every year, my family on my dad’s side goes rafting down the Truckee river. It has always been a tradition to go to tahoe over the summer, and go rafting one of those days. Over the years, we have had many fond memories, like water fights with water guns, and pushing people into the water. First, we go down to the place to rent the raft, they set up our family with two, and then we go down the river until there is a bend where they take you and your raft out. At the end of the place where you can raft, there is a little grill that we would go to for lunch.…
Everyone has their own community or organization for which they belong to. Within that community you tend to find who you are and what you are about. For me I found my identity in being an outdoors man. Being an outdoors man at my young age seems to be rare at this day, but that doesn’t prevent me from doing something I love and appreciate. Growing up with my family full of avid outdoors men helped influence me and only made my identity stronger.…
I have a deep interest in the ocean and marine life, which was fostered when my family and I moved to the Pacific Coast. This interest grew further after I went on a backstage tour to the aquarium at the Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo. Due to this continuous exposure to the ocean and the creatures that live there, I am focusing my education around my interest in marine life. It's for this reason that I’m majoring in Marine Biology with a minor in Chemistry. With this education, my goal is to become an Aquarist, and build my way up to becoming an ocean or aquarium diver. As a diver, I want to have the opportunity to study coral reefs, and create and implement conservation plans. In addition, I want to study sea turtles and ways to conserve their declining…
I've never been an "outdoors" experience kind of person. Maybe, it's because I'm very sedentary and prefer to stay inside to read and enjoy tranquility. I avoid all types of chaos and crowded places. Nevertheless, my visit to the Camuy River Cave Park (back in 2004) was refreshing and enriching in knowledge, historically, scientifically and spiritually. That experience brought the best out of me, as a human being and a nature lover, by giving the chance of experiencing a whole new level of peace and tranquility.…
Like many other boys, I love to swim. Since the age of five, I have spent many summer days in the YMCA pool. When I was 13 years old, I desired something more challenging than casual swimming, so I joined the high school development team for the Badger Swim Club.…
When I was just a baby, I left the place where I was born. Hawaii. A beautiful place yet I had to leave and move to a small cow infested town named Hanford. But living in the small community of Hanford, California has made me want to strive to do better for myself and my family in the future.…
Nearing the end of the tube I can almost see the shore, It feels as if I've been riding this wave for days. This wave is my hurdle in the ocean that is life, choppy at the beginning but slowly passing by. The ocean has many waves, one for each surfer to ride, my specialty wave happened to be dyslexia. It was in the second grade that my teacher first realized I was different from the other students, because I had yet to read my first book. My parents had found this odd as well, and took me to see a neurologist, who diagnosed me as having dyslexia. I did not quite know what this meant at the time, I only knew that it was the reason I could not comprehend the topics as easily as my classmates.…
When I first came into this class I was somewhat egocentric I thought that my broad views and beliefs on pop culture could have not been different than others, so I thought. However, as the class went on, and I read the articles which many of them I found very interesting. And the critical thinking pages of our hand book I clearly needed to learn more about pop culture in our society and what role it plays. The other thing I did not know was the more a person questions pop culture the more reason you can get out of it.…
“Hey mom and dad let's go to Niagara falls, Canada” I said. “Why?” mom and dad said. “Why not it is such a good weather today and come on let's go” I said. “Alright, fine” mom and dad said. Then, I quickly booked three tickets for the Niagara Falls Cruises. “Alright mom and dad let's go now” I said. Then, my dad quickly took out the car.…
The first time I ever went to Cape Fear River was on July 10 2014. I begged my parents to let me go that morning and finally they said “ pack up your clothes and all the sleeping gear so we can go and you can be quite.’’ I called my buddies and they all said meet y’all there at the Lock Dam 3. We went to the farm and got our 14 foot War Eagle Jon boat. We left the house around twelve o’clock and we took off for Walmart to buy some delicious steaks,soft bread and some crickets to fish with. We meet one of my buddies in the walmart parking lot. He was buying some comfortable sleeping bags and a blow up mattress to slip inside the tent so we wouldn’t have to sleep on that cold,hard sand. We took off to the river with our tall trucks and meet everyone down there at the dam.…
“ Now, do three sets of five 200s of IM…On the top. “ These were the orders Coach Ross Bohlken Sr. spoke as our last teammate swam to the wall. It was my junior year of high school and my last year of being in the swim team. I remember being tired of swimming for so many years. That was the way I felt for the last years before quitting, after I had lost my enjoyment of swimming. I had been swimming for almost ten years. It was the feeling I got when I competed at swim meets that kept me going. That feeling of accomplishment, determination, competitiveness, and sometimes, failure. I loved that mixture of feelings. But, later on, during the summer between my junior and senior year of high school, I made my choice of not swimming in my last year of high school. I simply just quit.…
I woke up hazed with blurred vision. The right side of my face was dried and burned. The left side of my face was soaked in salt water and blood. I was freaked out and picked up my head and blinked rapidly. I saw nothing but blue for miles and miles, the sky and the water. When I looked down I saw nothing but a small black and orange rubber dingy. I tried to think about what had happened. It was then when I realized I couldn't even remember my own name. Then panic just settled in for some reason I jumped in the water freaking out. I came to my senses and quickly started using all my strength to hurdle myself in the dingy.…