~Max Burgess, Class of 2023

Let the waves carry you where the light cannot.

~Mohit Kaushik

When you’re feeling stressed, worried, or anxious, everyone has a place that calms them down. It is in the long, winding, creeks of Cape Cod that I find myself drawn to the primal force that is nature. After a long school year filled with stress and anxiety, my salvation lies in those rivulets. It is there in the infinite peace and tranquility that I search for crabs, eels, and maybe a striper or two.

The exasperation melts away like a snowflake on a window as I wait for my prey beside the riverbed. When it’s just myself, I can truly focus and concentrate on the rippling water. As the piercing noon sun beat down on my back, I could only hope that I could forget my problems for the time being. 

As I held my net, the thrill of the hunt rushed through me. I almost gasped in shock as one of the biggest crabs I had ever seen walked right by my feet. To be more specific, it was a blue crab, and blue crabs can vanish in the blink of an eye if you don’t time your swipe perfectly. 

If I had made my move then, I surely would’ve missed. But after over ten  years of catching this crab’s brethren, I had enough experience to catch this monster. 

“Splash” I made my move, and an overwhelming sense of joy coursed through me as I peered into my net. I caught it!

It didn’t matter that in a few weeks, my problems would resume again. It didn’t matter that I was only there once a year, and it didn’t matter that I would be leaving in a few days. It only mattered that I had distracted myself from my stress and anxiety long enough to have some fun. 

I will forever treasure that beach, and I hope everyone can find a place where they can find joy, peace and tranquility—and fun.