Having lived by the beach with half of my class as surfers, I always saw surfing as a leisurely activity involving the beautiful sea, friends, and aesthetically pleasing boards. A few weeks shy of my eighteenth birthday, I decided to give surfing a try.

While I expected my biggest challenge to be maintaining warmth, the shivers caused by the ocean’s temperature were definitely the least of my worries. I showed up in the morning, squeezed my wetsuit on in a squirmy struggle, dragged my surprisingly lightweight long board across the sand and began the lesson.

It’s safe to say that everything I expected before the lesson was completely off mark; the things I expected to be challenging were surprisingly easy, and those I expected to be easy were extremely tough. Learning how to do a popup took little to no time at all, but paddling out through the waves and mastering the timing of standing up was an impossible feat.

Let me warn you, the waves hit hard. After being knocked off my board multiple times in a row, I couldn’t catch my breath and had to spend five minutes lying on my board exasperated and breathless. Right after I regained breath, I paddled all the way out to meet up with my friend. We both tried to catch a little wave action. I remember sitting on our boards in a moment of peace before the waves would instantly regain traction. After trying, shamefully, to stand up on my board multiple times, the lesson was over. The hour went by fairly quickly, and I would have been even less focused on the time if I wasn’t so out of breath and hadn’t let water seep into my wetsuit, making me shiver.

After that morning, I gained a lot of respect for surfers, not only for the physical challenge that they put themselves through, but for the determination of getting up early in the morning and hitting the ice cold sea.

Even though surfing is probably the hardest thing I have ever tried, I definitely do not regret the experience. There is something about being out in the water that makes you feel both energetic and at peace. Although it was physically tolling and intense overall, I am so glad I went out and tried something new.