溏心vlog免费B站

By Marybeth Reilly-McGreen

溏心vlog免费B站 students, staff, and faculty are drawn to the ocean to feel its power, channel its beauty and healing qualities, and experience the incomparable thrill of catching a wave.

It was a cloudy September day in 2015, sometime in the midafternoon. The water was warm, somewhere between 60 and 70 degrees. Details like these don鈥檛 matter to surfer Christina Young 鈥�21. She was on her board in the water. And, so, the day was perfect.

Young had paddled out to take her place in a lineup of strangers鈥攍ocals, mostly鈥攊n the surf at Narragansett Beach, waiting for the perfect wave to break. When it did, she found herself beneath rather than atop the wave, and that was just fine, too. In that moment, Young was with her ocean, her 鈥渄eepest love.鈥�

And so it goes with every wave and every ride. Each recalls every other experience on the ocean for Young. Memories drift in and out of her consciousness. 鈥淪ome are recent, and some are a part of the past. These go from great, breaking waves to simply small swells that naturally hug the shore every other minute.鈥�

Sometimes it鈥檚 hard to tell where memory ends and metaphor begins with Young. But her manner of speaking always reflects a reverence for the ocean, and for surfing. 鈥淪urfing is a gift. It is a privilege that requires a deep passion for the ocean and that is earned through respect, confidence, concentration, and patience,鈥� Young says.

This is the surfer鈥檚 mindset.

Painting on the Waves

If sports were ranked for coolness, surfing would be the one to beat. Barefoot bests bowling shoes. There are no golfer鈥檚 tan lines in surfing, no helicopter parents hollering. You are the bat connecting. And the ball flying. You鈥檝e got that sand-in-the-hair, salt-brined-skin, scraped-elbows-and-knees, waterlogged, all-out, all-encompassing, all-heart wellspring of kid passion going on way past adolescence. You鈥檙e amped by others鈥� successes. You鈥檙e chill and upbeat even when wiping out. Because, for a surfer, the worst day on the water is still a great day.

“Surfing鈥檚 just really relaxing, and it depends on your style of surfing, but if you are, like, a really flowy, relaxed surfer, it’s more of an art form than it is a sport. It’s like you’re making a painting on the waves, drawing new lines.”
鈥揓ake Fagan ’22

This mindset is spurring 溏心vlog免费B站 student surfers to explore courses of study that incorporate their love of the ocean鈥攁nd they’re coming up with super-chill big ideas for the future.

Jake Fagan 鈥�22 has been surfing since the age of 10 and boogie-boarding since he could walk. 鈥淒id you know 溏心vlog免费B站 is one of the top ten surfing schools in the country?鈥� Fagan says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 part of the reason why I鈥檓 at 溏心vlog免费B站.鈥�

Another reason: biomedical engineering. Fagan wants to design prosthetic limbs. He was inspired by a fellow surfer from his hometown, Little Compton, RI, who lost his leg in a shark attack. 鈥淪o after hearing that whole story, well, I wouldn’t want people to not be able to do their favorite things in life,鈥� Fagan says. 鈥淚f people played a sport, I want them to still be able to play a sport. If they would surf, I want them to still be able to surf. So, for people who suffer from unfortunate things, I want to prolong and increase the good in people’s lives through prosthetics.鈥�

Fagan takes every chance he can to get on the water. 鈥淎s long as it’s not, like, below 30 degrees, I’ll try to go out,鈥� he says. 鈥淢y mind just completely clears. I鈥檓 only focused on having fun with my friends, catching waves, trying to better myself. Everything feels so smooth. I鈥檓 on a big body high. I even like having that film of water on me when I鈥檓 done.

鈥淪urfing鈥檚 just really relaxing, and it depends on your style of surfing, but if you are, like, a really flowy, relaxed surfer, it’s more of an art form than it is a sport,鈥� Fagan says. 鈥淚t’s like you’re making a painting on the waves, drawing new lines.鈥�

Is There Anything Better Than Surfing?

Kiran Reed 鈥�20, a marine biology major, sits back, thinks on it, grins. 鈥淒iving,鈥� she says. 鈥淚’m better at diving. If I got better at surfing, though, I鈥檇 probably choose surfing, because I think it鈥檚 one of the things that when you experience it, once you’re really good at it, there’s this kind of flow to it.

鈥淲ith surfing, you feel refueled rather than exhausted when you鈥檙e done.鈥�

“Being on the water, it’s an interesting mix of feelings. You鈥檙e insignificant and in awe of an awesome thing, a thing that鈥檚 a lot larger and more powerful than you, but at the same time, you kind of feel like you have your place.”
鈥揔iran Reed 鈥�20

Reed grew up in a small farming community in Stow, Massachusetts. While Fagan was spending his summers surfing the waters off Aquidneck Island, Reed was tending to sheep and goats, learning to milk. 鈥淚 always had this appreciation for the ocean. I realized I was happiest when I was outside,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd the ocean was a frontier I鈥檇 never explored.鈥�

Reed鈥檚 long-term plan is to earn a master鈥檚 in marine biology from California State University Northridge and to pursue a Ph.D. She would like to do research and teach.

鈥淚 like researching the kinds of fish that are important to people. I am also really interested in working with people and using science as a tool to instill passion about the ocean and conservation and better kinds of fisheries management,鈥� Reed says. 鈥淪o I鈥檓 at a crossroads, I guess, between fish and fisheries and the people that work with all of that.鈥�

All paths lead to the ocean, though, Reed says. It offers all: calm, excitement, challenge, and contentedness.

鈥淏eing on the water, it’s an interesting mix of feelings,鈥� Reed says. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e insignificant and in awe of an awesome thing, a thing that鈥檚 a lot larger and more powerful than you, but at the same time, you kind of feel like you have your place. You don’t get that in the modern world.鈥�

The Wave of Life

The lessons of surfing鈥攃oncentration, respect, patience鈥攁re lessons that serve Christina Young as a student of history and marine affairs鈥攁nd of life. 鈥淲e all must keep moving on,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e must keep riding the wave of life.鈥�

The Clinton, Connecticut native thinks she鈥檒l follow in her grandmother鈥檚 footsteps one day and become a teacher. Maybe of maritime history. She is also deeply concerned about climate change and sustainability and expects those, too, will factor into her future professional plans. Because for Young, such global issues are deeply personal.

鈥淭he best thing is sitting on the water waiting, feeling the energy in the ocean moving around you,鈥� Young says. 鈥淭he other wonderful part is that, to me, surfing isn鈥檛 so much a sport as it is a way of life. It completes me.鈥�