for as long as I can remember, the water has been part of my life. every summer for the first five years of my life, I spent my summers at the beach on the south shore of long island. my favorite part was the waves; they were both thrilling and terrifying. I remember the first time that a wave swept me off my feet and dragged me under the water. it tossed me around and made me do flips under water; I had no idea what was going on, but i knew that i was frightened. when the water finally released my, i was very disoriented. when i finally got my bearings and analyzed what happened, i said, “that was cool,” and ran right back into the water. However, when I was five, my family moved from the south shore to the north shore of long island. What a drastic difference. Instead of huge, crashing waves and smooth, sandy beaches, I was greeted with tiny waves and rocky beaches. I was very upset at the beginning, but I learned to deal with the new environment, and ended up having a great time at these new beaches. To this day, I am still infatuated with water and the ocean. I go to the beach every summer, multiple times. I’ve decided that for the rest of my life, i need to live within 45 minutes of a beach. Lets see if I can stick to that plan.