Don’t you hate waking up early on the weekend?
And don’t you hate it when you try something new, and it seems like everyone around you has the hang of it and you don’t?
And is there anything worse than stepping in the water at the beach and feeling like there is a 99.99 percent chance that if you submerse your body in that water, you will catch pneumonia?
OK, now combine all three and you’ve just described my past Saturday between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Want to hear the funny part? I had a blast.
As I’m sure many are unaware of, the UCLA Marina Aquatic Center provides lessons in several lesser-acknowledged water sports, with classes taking place throughout the week and on the weekends.
This Saturday, I explored the world of windsurfing. And the fact that I was way in over my head made my experience all the more better.
I arrived at Cabrillo Beach around 9 a.m. and met up with eight other people, each of whom were undoubtedly more eager to learn to windsurf than I was.
We were joined by four instructors who quickly began their lecture on the basics of windsurfing. I was teetering on the edge of fear and calmness, but when one instructor commented that “windsurfing is kind of a dangerous sport,” the teetering stopped.
I was scared.
The lead instructor belted out a number of instructions of what to do with our surfboard-slash-sailing boat-slash-water contraption. But all I could think of was “windsurfing is kind of a dangerous sport.”
What did I get myself into?
It was go-time. The instructors provided us all with wet suits and told us to dive in the water. I jumped in first, trying to show that I wasn’t as scared as I looked.
It was cold. Really cold. Like, unusually cold. But I couldn’t look like a pansy, because there were female students. So I just played it cool.
I dragged myself up on the scary surfboard thingy and listened to the instructions I was being given by one of the windsurfing masters. And surprisingly, I balanced myself slightly easily.
For about three seconds.
Then it was face first into an unusually nasty-tasting beach water. However, being the optimist that I am, I didn’t write myself off as quickly as I usually would. Instead, on the precipice of giving up and crawling back to the car, I tried again.
And again. And again and again. Then one more time.
And after each fall, I found myself laughing more and more. I found it funny that others were falling, but not falling nearly as much as I was. The wet suit helped me block out the thoughts of how chilly the water actually was.
And might I add, I looked quite attractive in that wet suit, if I may say so myself.
But that’s beside the point. The point is that this experience was, for lack of a better word … cool.
Sure, I somehow found myself three feet from the water markers that beginners weren’t supposed to pass, and I had no idea how to get back without the assistance of one of the instructors.
And sure, one of my classmates had to be rescued as he floated past me and past those water markers. He wasn’t in any real danger. He just broke the law.
The experience was intriguing, and most of all, enlightening.
UCLA provides so many extracurricular activities for its students that not a lot of people take advantage of. Think about it. It’s summer time, and UCLA still provides weekly lessons and activities. Although there were eight others who joined me today, only myself and two others are current UCLA students.
So I encourage my fellow students to get out there, and zip up your wet suits and dive into some unbeknownst water sports. Trust me, I’ve already tested the waters for you all.
Literally and figuratively speaking…
If you can also tolerate the taste of beach water, then e-mail Watson at bwatson@media.ucla.edu.