100 shades of blue...
100 Shade of Blue
Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1OyUKRrCJeBNEV2QXV2SkZxdnM/view?usp=sharing
Spending a total of 100 days in the middle of Caribbean basin in the Turks and Caicos Islands still appears like nothing less than a dream. Today while I sit back at my couch and scroll through pictures, or share my eperience, or see a documentary on diving, or talk to the people I met there, I can’t fathom but think that it was all unreal. I have procrastinated to write this reflection for so long not because I am over that experience but because it is so hard for me to wrap up those 3.5 months into a few paragraphs. Every single day there was a new realisation, a new lesson, a new beginning and a new end. I transformed every single day and I can trade anything for those experiences. But one thing couldn’t change and now having lived away from home for four years, I think it will never change- the comfort I feel with my family. No adventure, no experience, no place, and no culture can provide me with what my family and loved ones can. To summarize my 3.5 months of experience, I am going to tell a story.
Once upon a time, there was a girl cheerful and bubbly. She could take on anything without even thinking about it but her legs would shiver whenever she was in water. She couldn’t swim in the water, she couldn’t dive in but she always longed to enjoy it. To fulfil her dream of living underwater, she had two ways to go- either she could be a mermaid (bummer! too late! She should have been born in the Pirates of the Caribbean era) or she could be a diver. While diving was her only option, she couldn’t even stand in 5 feet of water without thinking about all the worse things that could happen to her. Fast forward to April 2016, she becomes an Advanced Open Water Diver having dove 25+ times in the Atlantic Ocean and having swam all around in the open water. Well, this was just the beginning; she was going to experience and unravel a lot more in the coming months. With all the dives, snorkels and field exercises, she learned so much about the underwater world that by the end of it, she bowed down in respect for the eternal ocean. Nature just is! And so is the ocean, mountain, wind, fire and sky. She understood how minuscule humans are in front of nature’s magnificent creations. But to speak the truth, she saw the effect we have caused to Mother Nature and she wept, she cried and she felt helpless with this realization. She is a problem solver; she decided and pledged to make things right by doing her part. She is dedicating her life to save the oceans and this is the career path she has decided for herself. She always knew she wanted to work in the field of conservation but she didn’t understand what role she could play. Now she is glad to have seen the best and the worst to plan the path ahead. On top of accomplishing these personal and professional goals, she also checked off so many things from her bucket list like jumping off of a waterfall and travelling a new country all by herself. During her mid semester break she randomly chose a country and ended up going to Dominican Republic all by herself. She didn’t speak Spanish and she didn’t know anyone there but she knew herself and had all faith and confidence in the person she was. Then, along with 100s of pictures and souvenirs, she came back with an inspiration to learn Spanish, with lots of new friendships and a seed of courage in herself.
In the end, 1 month after this life changing experience, she is getting ready for the next adventure. She is joining University of San Francisco for MS in Environmental Management and an idea for a start-up to solve the issue of plastic in the ocean. To say the least, she turned out to be a fighter, a warrior in disguise and now she takes inspiration from this spirit within her to accomplish all she has planned for herself. For she now believes that, no matter how bizarre it may sound at first, dreams do come true. And rest, as they say.... is history!
Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1OyUKRrCJeBNEV2QXV2SkZxdnM/view?usp=sharing
Spending a total of 100 days in the middle of Caribbean basin in the Turks and Caicos Islands still appears like nothing less than a dream. Today while I sit back at my couch and scroll through pictures, or share my eperience, or see a documentary on diving, or talk to the people I met there, I can’t fathom but think that it was all unreal. I have procrastinated to write this reflection for so long not because I am over that experience but because it is so hard for me to wrap up those 3.5 months into a few paragraphs. Every single day there was a new realisation, a new lesson, a new beginning and a new end. I transformed every single day and I can trade anything for those experiences. But one thing couldn’t change and now having lived away from home for four years, I think it will never change- the comfort I feel with my family. No adventure, no experience, no place, and no culture can provide me with what my family and loved ones can. To summarize my 3.5 months of experience, I am going to tell a story.
Once upon a time, there was a girl cheerful and bubbly. She could take on anything without even thinking about it but her legs would shiver whenever she was in water. She couldn’t swim in the water, she couldn’t dive in but she always longed to enjoy it. To fulfil her dream of living underwater, she had two ways to go- either she could be a mermaid (bummer! too late! She should have been born in the Pirates of the Caribbean era) or she could be a diver. While diving was her only option, she couldn’t even stand in 5 feet of water without thinking about all the worse things that could happen to her. Fast forward to April 2016, she becomes an Advanced Open Water Diver having dove 25+ times in the Atlantic Ocean and having swam all around in the open water. Well, this was just the beginning; she was going to experience and unravel a lot more in the coming months. With all the dives, snorkels and field exercises, she learned so much about the underwater world that by the end of it, she bowed down in respect for the eternal ocean. Nature just is! And so is the ocean, mountain, wind, fire and sky. She understood how minuscule humans are in front of nature’s magnificent creations. But to speak the truth, she saw the effect we have caused to Mother Nature and she wept, she cried and she felt helpless with this realization. She is a problem solver; she decided and pledged to make things right by doing her part. She is dedicating her life to save the oceans and this is the career path she has decided for herself. She always knew she wanted to work in the field of conservation but she didn’t understand what role she could play. Now she is glad to have seen the best and the worst to plan the path ahead. On top of accomplishing these personal and professional goals, she also checked off so many things from her bucket list like jumping off of a waterfall and travelling a new country all by herself. During her mid semester break she randomly chose a country and ended up going to Dominican Republic all by herself. She didn’t speak Spanish and she didn’t know anyone there but she knew herself and had all faith and confidence in the person she was. Then, along with 100s of pictures and souvenirs, she came back with an inspiration to learn Spanish, with lots of new friendships and a seed of courage in herself.
In the end, 1 month after this life changing experience, she is getting ready for the next adventure. She is joining University of San Francisco for MS in Environmental Management and an idea for a start-up to solve the issue of plastic in the ocean. To say the least, she turned out to be a fighter, a warrior in disguise and now she takes inspiration from this spirit within her to accomplish all she has planned for herself. For she now believes that, no matter how bizarre it may sound at first, dreams do come true. And rest, as they say.... is history!