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Natalie Stallard

English Composition I

Professor D. Leonard

9/17/21

Fear to Curiosity

Going into high school with no idea of what you want to do in the future can be

confusing. So much time and effort goes into school and not knowing what it’s all for

feels meaningless. All of the nights spent studying until 2 am, stressing over turning

something in by 11:59, and waking up at the crack of dawn is tiring. All of these things

take so much energy out of a person. This is exactly what I experienced my freshman

year of high school. It would've been easier if I found my passion earlier. Luckily, only

one year of high school was spent in this deep hole of pointless work. When I could only

think about the fact that I didn’t want to go to school the next day and that I hated doing

homework, it was hard to feel motivated about anything related to school. During this

time I had a terrible attitude towards my education and always dreaded thinking about

the end of high school. Digging myself out of this hole was a lengthy process, but the

moment I found myself was the moment that changed my life.

Using the term “finding myself” might seem like an exaggeration, but it truly was

a moment of realization for me. It was the summer of sophomore year during July. I

went to Destin, Florida, with my friend for the week. I had been to other beaches before,

probably ones even more pristine than this already gorgeous beach. Although I loved

seeing marine animals, I subconsciously felt a slight fear of going too deep in the water.

However, on Tuesday that week, I put my fears aside. As my friend and I began our trek
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into the salty water, I overheard a middle-aged man to my left. “Yeah, I chummed the

water earlier but I haven’t seen anything yet.” I looked at my friend for reassurance

about what I had just heard. Even though this made me slightly fearful, excitement

seemed to cancel out the fear. Plus, if there was nothing close to shore by now, why

should I worry. I swam around for about 15 minutes when I suddenly heard someone

say the most feared word on the beach. “Shark!” However, it was a little less frightening

considering it came from a five year old. I dunked my head into the water with my

snorkel to see a baby shark. No it was not a 15 foot great white. However, the tiny

specimen was still of decent size. I swam around following the small creature trying to

get as many shots with my underwater camera as possible. After a short 10 seconds,

the shark swam off into the distance. I stood up feeling exhilarated as ever. It was a

weird feeling knowing my whole life I had a fear of the ocean, and now I was faced with

the root of that fear but felt nothing but curiosity. I now looked around hoping the

creature would return and felt disappointment after seeing nothing for the rest of the

day. I secretly hoped a shark of larger size would show up, although my knowledge of

shark species at the time was limited. Instead, I spent the day gazing at the fish and

digging for crabs and sand dollars.

Going to dinner later that day was the first time I verbally spoke of what I was

feeling. My friend and I walked out on the pier at sunset and looked over the edge to

see a sea turtle. I stared into the darkening water until the turtle was no longer visible.

As we walked back my friend said. “It would be so fun to work at a marine rescue

center.” I looked at her with agreement and said, “I think that might be what I want to do,
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or at least something with marine life.” We spent the rest of the night obsessing over the

ocean. I watched documentaries and learned all I could about sharks.

Eventually, the beginning of the 2020 school year came around. Although this

wasn’t like other years, I went into the first day with a new sense of motivation. The old

me that used to feel like school was useless was now gone. I looked at every class as a

step to get closer to marine biology, even if I didn’t like it. My attitude as a whole

changed towards school. I would study for an extra hour, read a few more pages in my

book, or re-watch a lesson to make sure I completely understood it. Since realizing my

passion, I haven’t looked back. To this day I put in more effort than I used to and I work

hard to make sure my dreams will become a reality.

Overall, that day on the beach had a huge effect on my life. It gave me a reason

to work harder and opened my eyes to a whole new world. I have since educated

myself on just about everything that has to do with the ocean. This event had a huge

impact on my life and truly inspired me in every way possible. If it weren’t for my

experience, I would likely still be feeling helpless and unmotivated when it comes to

schoolwork. To this day I plan on majoring in marine biology.