At a young age I was never fond of the ocean. I was in fact terrified of what laid beneath the depths of the ocean. The salty water always stung my eyes and I couldn't stand being dumped by a wave. Through my younger years i always thought that I would become a professional football player. At the age of ten my parents took me on a holiday to the Maldives. Every morning we would wake up with the beach at our front door. The sun would shine directly in my eyes and briefly blind me. After a few days of convincing I finally agreed to try and overcome my hatred for the ocean. My father rented out a Malibu surfboard and as much as I didn't want to admit it, I had fun. For the rest of the holiday all I wanted to do was surf, it was as if the surfboard acted as a shield and kept me safe from all my fears of the ocean. .
Once we got back from the Maldives my father bought me a surfboard. It was extremely old, with plenty of dints and scratches, for all I know he probably picked it up from the side of the road. But I still loved that board as if it was my son. Every morning my father would run down to the beach with me, we would always be there on dark waiting for the first glimpse of light to be able to be the first people out. As soon as there was light, my feet would interlock with the sand as I ran out to the pier. The pier was an iconic aspect in the beginning of my surfing career. I learnt a lot from the pier. The pier was about thirty metres long made up of rock. The pier was infested with seaweed which was extremely slippery. But the Pier taught me that sometimes you're going to get hurt doing what you love but it's a test to see how far you can move forward after experiencing the worst of the pain. Whenever i was delusional about catching waves I would think about all the times I fell over at the pier and how I never died, so what harm could a pile of water really do to me? As i continued to surf my skill and experience would grow everyday.