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By Allison Yamakawa
Being born and raised in Hawaiʻi, I was always surrounded by the ocean. From going to the beach to having fresh seafood, the ocean plays a big role in the lives of most people who live in the islands. For me, however, the ocean was never really my forte. Though I enjoyed looking at the ocean from a distance, I rarely found myself doing ocean-related activities. So you may be asking yourself, why did she decide to sail on a boat hundreds of miles off shore in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? Well, the short answer is that I wanted to push myself into doing something that made me uncomfortable. I believe that taking the opportunity to participate in an activity that you would normally pass up on is one of the best ways to learn about yourself and expand your knowledge of the world. By doing this, I was able to learn about the types of research that most interested me, as well as narrow down my career plans for the future.
That being said, taking up this STEMSEAS opportunity also confirmed that I am not cut out for life at sea. For the first two days, I was horribly sea sick and regretted coming on this trip. However, once I got used to the environment and the sea sickness medicine finally kicked in, I really began to appreciate my time at sea. For instance, we were able to get a stunning view of the rare blue super moon, eat amazing food, have incredible views of the ocean everyday, and much much more. Though, what I loved the most was being able to meet and spend time with such wonderful people. I am extremely grateful to have made lasting memories with my fellow STEMSEAS peers and the Kilo Moana staff.
Photo Credit: Allison Yamakawa
