Riptide

A non-fiction personal narrative about never giving up

Riptide

I looked again at the raging water,No turning back now, I thought to myself.  I took in a deep breath, and threw myself in the air, straight onto the everlasting wave.

It was winter break, that time in between Christmas and New Years, and we were on a little family vacation at Blue Harbor Resort and spa and water park In sheboygan.  

The drive up to sheboygan was treacherous, sheboygan was in the middle of getting eight inches of snow, And with the resort located right at the edge of Lake Michigan, literally, there was tons of lake effect snow.  

When we arrived in the waterpark part of the resort, the first thing I saw was the riptide.  A giant wave that never stopped.  People were Riding it, some on their knees, some on their stomachs, and some even rode on their feet. I smiled, I’m going to do this, I told myself.

My sister and I went on a few slides, down the lazy river and swam a little bit.  But I couldn’t get my mind of the wave.  I have always wanted to try surfing, and even though this was a man operated wave in northern Wisconsin, I still wanted to give it a go.

“Let’s go surfing,” I told my sister.  She just gave me a look.  But then reluctantly followed me to the wave.  At the beginning of the line, there was a sign, saying that you had to sign a waiver, there was also a sign saying all of the potential risks that this ride had, one of them, was death.

I wasn’t going to let that scare me away though.  So We went and got my dad, and we all went to where you had to sign a waiver.  When we turned the waiver in, we all got a blue wristband, saying that we are good to go on the riptide.

“Your going on that?” My mom asked me.  I nodded.  I know why she would be a little surprised by that.  I’m usually the “Safe” child, I’m afraid of roller coasters, and I’m usually not the one to be eager to go on a “thrill” ride.

“Let’s get in line,” I told my dad and sister.  So we went and got in line.  While we waited in line, we watched other people surf who were ahead of us in line.

There were these four boys, probably fourteen of fifteen years old.  When they got on the wave, they would roll over, do somersaults, splash spectators and do other crazy tricks, making it all look so easy.  So when it was my turn, I thought that this was no big deal.

The life guard handed me the board and instructed me how to get on, and stay on the wave.  I gripped the board, look down onto the raging wave, and jumped on.

I fell off right away, the wave throwing me back and slamming me into the wall, but I got right back up.

“Do you want to try again?” the lifeguard asked me, I nodded, and jumped back into the wave.  I stayed on for a second or two, but then slid into the slow water on the sides.

How do those boys do that?  I wondered.  Next I watched my dad and sister.  Falling off the wave didn’t scare me, I wanted to try again, so I did.  This time, I stayed on the wave laying down for a long time.  I decided that maybe I could try kneeling.  Well I fell.

“You leaned too far forward,” my dad told me when I got out of the wave.  I nodded taking in his advice.  The next time I went on it, I focused on leaning back, and I got to my knees!!

It was now the next day, the day that we were leaving.  I decided to surf again, thinking that I was going to do very well.

I got on the wave, and slid right to the side.  The lifeguard gave me the opportunity to jump back in from the bottom, so I did.  

I couldn't get the board parallel with my body and the water. So instead of smoothly riding the wave, I felt the board slide out from beneath me, I felt myself turn so my face was underwater, I felt myself fly back up the wave, crashing into the board.

I knew that it was a bad wipeout when the life gaurd asked me if I was ok, and everybody in line was staring at me.

I’m never going on that again, I told myself.  I felt humiliated.

A half hour later, My dad asked my sister and I if we wanted to try the wave one last time before we left.  My sister said yes and I shrugged.

A song came into my head then “If you lose your way, get back up again, it’s never too late to get back up again.”  I then nodded.  I was going to get back up again, I would not let the wave conquer me, I would conquer the wave.  I got in line with my dad and my sister, I would be the last one to go out of the three of us.

I watched as my dad and sister went.  It was my turn.  I thought of the song lyrics, gripped the board, and jumped into the wave.

I got to the center of the wave, got my balance and stayed there on my stomach.  I was scared to go on my knees, but I was going to try.  I got in the right position, felt the board wobble, then steadied myself.

I took a deep breath, then pulled in my legs.  I was on my knees.  I tentatively took my hands off the board, and dragged them in the water. I felt myself lose balance so I layed back down, then got back up on my knees.

This time however, the board turned, pushing the board and I to the top of the wave, No, I thought, I will not fall.

I managed to straighten the board, Lay down, and get back to the center of the wave.  I could tell by the look of everybody's faces that were watching at the bottom of the wave, that they thought I was going to fall.  

I looked at my dad.  He made a motion to roll over. I was doubtful, sure that I would fly back to the top of the wave, but I gave it a shot.

I pulled in my arms, and rolled.  

I was still in the center of the wave.  A huge smile broke out on my face as I purposefully made my way to the side of the wave to get off.  

If you ever fall down, or fail at something, don't give up, you have the potential to be great.  Get up again if you fall, try again if you fail.  I didn’t only learn how to indoor surf at Blue Harbor, I learned to never give up, and to get up, which to me, is a much more valuable lesson.