I didn’t grow up in the ocean. I wasn’t one of those kids who could free-dive before they could read, and when I first started spearfishing, the water and I had a complicated relationship. I panicked, got queasy, felt uncomfortable over and over. For probably my first dozen dives, there was this loop in my head: what am I doing here, this doesn’t feel right, I want to get out. I’d freak out underwater and have a million thoughts running through my head.

But on every dive, even the bad ones, I’d catch something… a glint, a fish, speckles floating in the water, light hitting the kelp the right way that showed me what this could be. So I pushed through. I kept going when the negative thoughts said don’t. And slowly the panic faded. The water stopped feeling like the enemy and somehow became a place of meditation and peace.

I’m proud of that because it didn’t come easy. Diving is one of the most peaceful things in my life now. It’s where I’m alone with my thoughts, where I’ve learned to stay calm, where I get to test myself against something that doesn’t care how my week went. Conquering that, not the ocean, but the voice in my head trying to get me to back out is something I’ll always be proud of.

What I didn’t expect was the people. I haven’t met one person through diving I don’t genuinely enjoy spending time with. Every diver has a different story with the ocean, and spearfishing turns out to be one of the things that lets all of us: freedivers, hunters, at every level grow together as a community.

Getting asked to join the board was something I was extremely grateful for. Becoming president of OC Spearos is something I never saw coming, and I’m honored. I have massive shoes to fill. My goal is simple: keep this club running as well as it does, and keep bringing all of us together.