I’ve always loved surfing since I was a young kid. I’ve always felt at ease while walking along the shore with my board, thinking of all of the ways that I could strengthen my skills as a surfer. Being athletic/a surfer has always been a core part of my identity, and this is a part of myself that my parents struggled to grasp, support or accept. I’ve had dreams of becoming a surfer professionally, or at least working as a surfer instructor, but my parents did not see this as a viable life long career. They wanted me to instead pick a more mainstream career, such as becoming a lawyer or becoming a doctor. They also viewed it as a dangerous sport, especially given the potential of a surfer drowning. There was this surfing competition back in highschool and I applied to participate. Up until this point in my life, my parents have never come to any of my surfing competitions. Because they did not support this part of my identity, they saw no use in seeing me compete. I worked hard to convince them that seeing me surf would change the way they view the sport as well as their perception of the activity as a lifelong career. They agreed, reluctantly, to come see my surf. On the day of the competition, there were 8 other competitors. It was a local competition, and the tides were high that day. When the competition initially started, I could see my parents were not so interested in what was happening. But after about 10 minutes, I could tell their interest peaked, and suddenly, they were yelling my name and were excited to see me do my many tricks and handle the high tides smoothly. I ended up winning the competition and landed in first place, and was even given a medal to take home with me. This was one of the hardest competitions I had ever participated in up until that point in my life, and I was proud of myself and the way I handled the waves. At the end of the race, my parents told me they were sorry they never tried to give my passion for surfing a try and that they failed to support what was a very important part of me. They told me that they understood why I would want to pursue surfing as a long term career choice, and though they still had their preferences in terms of what job I would do in the future, they at least understood. This was a very important moment in my life, and I finally felt like my parents were supportive of my identity, after years of not feeling adequately supported or understood.
