It’s been nine days and perhaps a lifetime (if one could define a life by the period of time that occurs between an individual’s birth and death) and I can safely say that I’ve never learned so much about the ocean, as well as myself, in such a short time. It’s a strange thing, to be able to wake up having 15 hours of sleep over the course of three days, eat a meal composed almost entirely and exclusively of carbs, and discuss complicated biological concepts with an array of people, varying in every way that our species can, without providing context or a framework of information otherwise needed to follow along. To share my fascination for the ocean and its inhabitants has been nothing short of everything that I’ve searched for, and I feel that this trip has proven itself as the large, existential toe penetrating the surface of what is the rest of my, and my peers’, lives.

I have gone from exhausted to confused, and then from confused to aggravated, back to confused, and then overjoyed. I’m beyond thankful for the cnidarian stings, the coral scratches, the calloused feet, and the star-filled skies viewed best from the jetty. I’ve tried to take every day slowly, and still, somehow, it’s passed me by.

Warm regards,
Jason M.

[Ed: Yeah, we have no idea how the blog title ties into the blog post either. But we give the students latitude when writing these things…]