Posted by Jake Larson on October 16, 2009 at 7:13am
Jake LarsonArts and Architecture 10Section 1OWhy do you do what you do?I do what I do in order to feel comfortable in my own skin; not ever am I completely comfortable unless I am in the water, surfing. I live to surf. I surf to live. The community as a whole looks down of surfers, thinking of them as low-life stoners who should get the salt water out of their brains and get a job. I am attracted to this subtle rebellion to society and now I too breathe surfing. I do what I do because I am a living body who has broken the stereotype of the “stupid surfer” and is making something of my life. I spend hours in the library not to get good grades and up my GPA but to help my surfing culture get a better name in the community. When I was about eight years old my best friend yearned to surf but his mother would not let him because she did not want her son to turn into what she called “just another one of them, a surfer.” I did not understand this at the time but as I grew older, that comment stuck to me like glue and now I live by it. I surf to rebel against this mother and all other people who think its right to negatively label anyone, whether it’s a race or culture. I am unique because I did not just go surfing with my friends but with a tribe. I felt it was my calling to follow my father’s footsteps and become a part of a select group of surfers who made surfing number one in their lives. I made a mistake. I love surfing but I will never surf and only surf again. Instead, I wish to share my experiences with the world, starting with UCLA. I am a surfer who surfs not for myself but for the world to see just what a surfer can do.
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