Hello Everyone!
While brainstorming a topic to center this next blog around, I found myself at a stand still. As much as I would love to say it took me only a day or two to think of one, it realistically took me a whole weekend and it wasn’t until reflecting upon a trip I took recently to where a lightbulb lit up, and I found a relatable, meaningful topic that would be fun to write about.
It’s been about a week since I was last in touch, and in that past week, I’ve had a lot going on. To clear my mind from my busy schedule filled with internship assignments and midterm exams and presentations for most of my classes, I spent last weekend about 2 hours south of Sydney in a small town called Gerroa located on 7 Mile Beach. Yes, this was a nice escape from the city, but that wasn’t the main reason for my travels to this location. That reason was surf camp.
In the movies, surfing looks very simple. You paddle out on your board, wait for the perfect wave, find one, paddle towards shore, and once you feel you caught it, you stand up. In person, that isn’t necessarily the case. I have surfed a few times when I was younger as you tend to spend a lot of time at the beach where I grew up, however, it seems as if last weekend I forgot everything I knew; I was told it could come back to me like riding a bike and that was certainly not the case. Looking back on this experience, I set my expectations a little too high at the start in reference to being able to stand up right away. Quickly, I was humbled as I wiped out the first wave, and then the next two after that. At this point the rest of that surf session could have gone one of two ways: give up and hang out on shore, or get back out there and try again. Being the person I am, there was no way I was giving up, and I’m even surprised that this thought even came into my brain in the first place. With some guidance from one of the instructors, on that next wave, I was able to stand up on and take it into shore. This choice I had to make is not just applicable to this unique scenario regarding surfing, however, can be applied to more serious situations, especially in the workplace. There are times when you encounter an obstacle along the progression of a project for example and are put in a stalemate. At that moment, you have to make the same choice I did. Through continuously practicing making decisions like these, I have become more comfortable with resiliency regardless of the context which I believe will deem beneficial in situations I find myself in down the road.
Needless to say, I had an awesome weekend filled with decision making and sunburns. Not only was I able to apply and develop the skill of resiliency in an unexpected setting, but I was also able to connect with individuals from not just Australia, but all over the world. I made friends from France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, all of whom had different life stories and reasons as to why they are in Australia which I enjoyed learning about. Solely from a weekend intended just for surfing, I was able to come out of this experience with not just some top of the line surf moves, but also skills that are helpful to both my personal and professional life which I look forward to utilizing wherever life takes me down the road.
Till next time!
Logan
