I had never been paddle boarding before and once I saw my chance, I was all for it! I didn’t really know what to expect and was glad that I honestly had no expectations whatsoever because it made my experience that much more rewarding.
Getting up at 5 AM and being on campus by 6:30 AM was a bit too early for me considering it was a weekend and I don’t usually get up so early when I don’t have to. I was half asleep arriving on campus, but was super excited! Once the bus arrived, we get on and set off for San Pedro, which is where most of us fell asleep. Once we arrived there we wasted no time, we changed our clothes and headed out towards the water. We helped carry the boards to shore, were assigned a paddle, and put our flotation devices on. After that, we were taught the correct way to hold the paddle, different ways to paddle, how to stand on the board, how to start off when entering the water, and how not to panic when falling off. Then it was off to the water!
When we entered the water, it was FREEZING! Once I was in enough, I got on my board and tried to get my balance in check before doing anything else. When I thought I was good in that department, I gained some speed short paddling and got ready to stand up. I kid you not! I thought I was going to wipe out and fall into the water! I slipped and fell, but gladly, I didn’t fall in the water! I caught myself in time and managed to regain my balance. From there we all went around the area. There were a few wipe outs and lots of almost wipe outs, 4 of which were me. It was fun, but also tiring. My feet started to cramp eventually and I wasn’t the only one, a majority of us short paddled it back to the beach instead of standing because we were so tired, we had been out there for almost 2 hours! But things were great and I couldn’t have thought of a better way to spend my Saturday morning.
I’m thankful for Center for Student Involvement (CSI) at Cal State LA for holding this event. I hope to attend more fun and exciting events like this in the future!