A Day in the Life of a Hawai’i Boy

So there were about 6-8ft (Hawaiian wave height) waves on the North Shore of Hawai’i. I was out on my longboard surfing the surf break Haleiwa. I was the furthest person out in the lineup waiting for a wave. I was just sitting and waiting till I saw a freak set coming. I quickly got down on my board and started to paddle as quickly as possible. As I was paddling my mind was racing with the repeating line, “ho brah, I really hope I don't get caught by these waves cuz if I do I'm gonna break my board and I'm gonna get worked.” I was racing to the channel so the waves didn't catch me. The first wave comes and I barely make it over with the waves cresting under me. Knowing that the waves after the first are bigger, I put all of my energy into making it to safety for the next wave. When the wave reached me, it started to break already so I had to think and react fast. I had to duck dive my longboard in order to get away from the waves so I didn't get too hammered by the waves. 

Nothing in this world is scarier than the randomness of the ocean, the waves itself could just be water or it could be an unbeatable force that will do what it wants. After I broke through the back of the second wave I saw 3 more waves coming through and I thought to myself “Okay, 3 more to go, I got this. Just keep paddling.” The third wave was just as big as the second wave so I was trying to paddle faster. I again had to duck dive my longboard to get under the wave. The second I broke through the back of the third wave, I had my hair all over my face, water dripping down my face as well, but I continued to paddle to get to safety even though I had no clue what I was seeing. 

I quickly wiped my face and saw the fourth wave was not as big as the first three so I started to slow down my paddling. At this point, my arms are burning and getting slower. I quickly turned my board around and started paddling to catch the wave. My arms were so dead I thought I couldn't catch it and get mauled by the last wave. But I pushed as hard as I could with all my might and I was able to catch the wave back to the beach without worrying about getting caught by the last wave. 

Later that week, I had a fire dance show because one of my jobs is as a fire dancer for the Polynesian group Kalena’s Polynesian Ohana. The show took place at a house and the area I had to dance in was very small. The area I had to dance in had trees over my head, bushes around me, a tent behind me, and I was about ten feet from the crowd. Knowing all this, I had to think over my fire dance routine, cutting and adding moves so I don't toss too high, or don’t go side to side a lot, and moves that are easy but look complex so I can still give the audience a good show and stay safe at the same time. 

In my life, I've had to paddle through lots of sets to get where I am today. Just like these sets, each one was progressively harder and harder to get through. But practice makes perfect and eventually the waves aren't as scary as they used to be. Being the person I am today comes from the persistence of going over each set of waves that I’ve come into contact with and having the adjustability and fast thinking that came with my job as a performer. These certain traits have helped me push through a lot of my life situations. Not only am I a persistent person but I'm also a people person meaning I work well with people. I like having more heads to think with, and to me, working as a group is way more helpful and useful than being on your own. I like to contribute and make sure that whatever we as a group are working on will get done no matter what issues we run into.

Looking over my personality traits and how I work well with people, I would like to become a firefighter. When I see myself as a firefighter, I can't think of any other job that'll be perfect for me. I have the personality traits fitting for a firefighter, I have experience with both fire and water so I’m very verse when it comes to dealing with the elements, and I’m a people person so no matter what situation I’ll get called to, whether it's dealing with people or with the elements, I can deal with the situation with not a lot stress and more of a controlled head.