College Admissions Essay: The Sport Of Surfing

Water. One of the world most powerful elements. Waves. Always moving. Always crashing. Always breaking. Something that has always pulled at my attention. Since I was little, I marveled at the waves and their great dominance and the endless amusement they offered. I longed to swim in these waves. I longed to roll with the great crash on the shore, to find the treasures that lurked beneath them, to surf.

“The Surfer,” by Judith Wright is a poem about a young, tanned, strong man surfing in the ocean. In the middle of the poem the tone warns the surfer of the looming danger of the changing sea. With the author’s specific use of diction, structure, metaphors, personification, and symbolism, the poem begins with the thrillingly surreal weightlessness as a surfer stands on the surface, to the mysterious dangerous side of the ocean. The purpose of the poem is to convey that although some things can be enjoyable they can also be dangerous, in this case the ocean.

Throughout my high school career, I have challenged the pervasive idea that athletics come first in a student’s life during high school. In my community, football is seen as the pinnacle of a student’s senior year if they play. In my class, many people prefer to blow off homework assignments in favor of going to sleep after practice. However, my actions clearly display that I have challenged this standard and have placed priority on being a STUDENT-athlete. My football and wrestling seasons over the past four years have encompassed many long, exhausting practices and competitions. I, like every individual participant, was faced with the choice to go home afterwards and rest, or to study and strive to further their education. As I am

Her parents were passionate about surfing and they passed along their love of the beach to Bethany and her brothers, Noah and Timmy. When Bethany was eight, she joined the competitive surfing circuit. Her whole family became involved in her training. Her dad taught her techniques and surfing tips while her mom, Cheri, homeschooled her. Cheri was a strict teacher and made sure that Bethany never fell behind on her work while her brothers toughened her up for all her competitions. Bethany’s family taught her that it was okay to lose sometimes because there would always be a next time when she could win. Bethany’s attachment to surfing was in her blood as she said “Surfing is a force that moves your body and soul.” (Hamilton, 122). She practiced for hours everyday and loved everything about her surfing world especially her friends. As she began winning competitions, Bethany’s brother Noah started sending pictures of her surfing to various companies that manufactured clothing. Soon after that, the company Rip Curl sponsored Bethany and gave her free clothes and equipment to use while she surfed. Bethany was a rising star in the field of competitive

Growing up in a family that Bethany was in surfing was built in her blood. Bethany has two brothers who push her, to be the best person she can be. Bethanys parents inspire her to be the best surfer she can be, because they were both amazing surfers according to Bethany. Bethany is in love with the sport of surfing, she says “once you do it, it becomes an addiction” (Hamilton 10). Growing up she was lucky to have so many family members older than her to look up to and be influenced by.

My parents tell me that I took to swimming like... a fish takes to water. It is a safe place where I can float free of worries. Driven by passion and dedication, I decided to begin swimming competitively. Competitive swimming requires an intense level of determination and discipline. Forcing myself to get out of my warm bed at 5:30 in the morning to put on a still-slightly-damp swimsuit and stand in 40-degree weather waiting for practice to start. Putting up with limited lane space and irritating swimmers who think they are faster. Making a conscious effort to work on my stroke form, turns, touches, and techniques. The water becomes a whirlpool of injuries, losses, wins, friendships, enemies, and sickness. The water becomes home.

For the first time in our small rowing club’s history, we made it to the finals in what was our biggest regatta of the season. Unfortunately, our boat came in dead last...by a lot. We felt bad enough, but the last thing I expected was the outburst by one of the veterans. Having only a few months of rowing experience, I assumed his yelling at us was directed at me and my novice teammates. The scenario of confronting him was running through my head. By the time we stacked the boat back on the trailer, the thoughts myriad of thoughts through my mind were spoken. I spoke in a tone that my teammates have never seen before. I even surprised myself with how I stood up and defended myself and the other newer members.

Director Bruce Brown's Endless Summer was released in the summer of 1966. The 1960s in America and around the world was a high point for conflict and counterculture. Endless Summer is a documentary that showcases the lifestyle and philosophy of surf culture. It is one of the first surf documentaries that represent the culture and the sport. The film exposed audiences around the world to surfer and sparked increased interest and participation in the sport and the culture of the surfer. This paper will describe and interpret the surfer dude culture.

One thing I have a strong passion for in life is sports. My favorite one was volleyball. It taught me a lot about life and myself. My sophomore year I made varsity, but was upset when I sat the bench more than I played. However, I still pushed myself every practice and never gave up hope. This payed off because the next season I was a starter and a team captain. Being a student athlete has been an incremental part of who I have become in the future. I did not realize it at the time, but my participation in sports has affected my life in more ways than I thought. Consequently, sports have had a major influence on the career path I have chosen, and have also been a significant part of bringing my family together.

I don’t know about you but I have never been surfing. (in the ocean ) My whole life I have surfed behind a boat. This is called wake surfing, it is where a boat tows you and there is a wave behind the boat and you can ride it. I am predicting from this poem that surfing is very hard, but once you get the hang of it you will progress fast. I can just imagine swimming all the way out to the ocean far enough to catch a good wave and by that time you might be tired. Once you find the perfect wave you swim towards it and turn around to ride the wave. As you are paddling very hard you stand up at the perfect time and carve into the wave to get some momentum. This is what I could imagine if I were surfing.

A month after her accident, she was back in the water. She did not let the events that occurred on Halloween deter her from her passion and dream of surfing professionally. Even though she was afraid of sharks, she was more concerned about never doing what she loved again. Despite the fact she could have lost more limbs or even died, if another attack occurred, she continued to surf. Her courage is another trait she possesses that makes her

Ever since I was little I p;ayed sports. People always told me I was goung to make it big. I was good at everysport lole ait was in my blood. My body is built to play sports. A lot of people say im athletic and I agree.

Failure is not an option. That was instilled upon me at an early. I took this mantra with me when I attended Special Forces Combat Diver School at Key West in 2010. My drowning and subsequent failure at Dive School resided in my mind for months to come. I assumed everything I hope to achieve was lost. After the summer had passed and as the semester was about to begin, I recognized that I could still achieve my goals, but it would take time, dedication, and sacrifice. I had to prove myself above my peers. I was already in my junior year of my Political Science degree with at least 4 more semester’s worth of courses to complete. In addition to my ROTC curriculum and working part time, my academic scheduled was already overwhelming. After detailed research and intensive analysis, I realized I could achieve a second

Competing in high school athletics was the highlight of my time at Sterling High School, If I could I’d go back and do it all over agin. It allowed me to learn basic life skills, such as time management, self-accountability, leadership, and teamwork. But the most important thing it brought me was a strong support system built up of teammates, coaches, competitors, and officials. My sophomore English teacher once joked that “the girl’s swim team is like a cult” which is pretty close to the truth. From early August to late November twenty girls, a diver or two, and a pair of coaches were inseparable. Together we suffered together through every practice and worked to improve not only ourselves but each other. It was these long hours that shaped

Bethany Hamilton was a world class surfer who won many surfing awards. She started surfing at age five, and was already in the most elite competitions by age 13. But, as she ran towards the ocean and shoved off from her board on Halloween 2003, her life would change forever. A tiger shark could ahold of her arm, and tugged with all his might. She had not felt any pain, but pressure. “With a strange calmness, Bethany stared at the stump on her shoulder where her arm used to be.” (Shark Attack Survivor).