California Beaches and My Thoughts

I can’t speak for everyone, but I do know that I love living in California because of my access to the vast amount of great beaches. I could never move from this state, because the separation between the city and ocean is really not that far and the weather is amazing. The Bay Area is almost completely surrounded by water and if I go back down to Southern California, Orange County has some of the best beaches I’ve ever surfed at. I can remember getting up early on Saturday mornings to wander on down to Huntington Beach and stay until sunset. The Laguna Beach area is actually my favorite, because it has coves for you to explore and a private beach that I love to walk on. The smell of the ocean mist alone is enough for me to be happy with where I am at. No matter how many times I have went to the beach, I never grow tired of it. It has always been the one thing that I can come back to when I need to relax and enjoy my time. That is why lately the beach has been my location these past couple of weeks. It isn’t because the weather is absolutely gorgeous and it is the summer, but walking and listening to the ocean is where I can be at peace. I can sit for hours with my own thoughts or hang out with a friend and enjoy taking in the scenery.

I have found myself thinking a lot about Stanford lately and where my life is taking me. The amount of time it is going to take to complete medical school is overwhelming. The thoughts about financial aid, student loans, study time, and working has added to the amount of stress that is called life. Preparation to transfer into a new school is difficult and it never comes easy for anyone. I have wondered if Stanford was the right choice for me or if I do belong in Los Angeles at UCLA, but I think it might just be me worrying about the sudden change. The move from the Los Angeles area to Burlingame to attend Stanford is obviously one of the biggest decisions I’ve ever had to make in my life. Who was I going to know here? I was leaving all of my friends and family behind and starting fresh. So trips back and forth between Los Angeles and the Bay Area always make me miss home. Then I remember how hard I have worked to get to where I am today. The hours of making sure my papers were right. Is this a clear thesis? Does the MLA formatting look correct? Is your argument backed up by enough evidence?

This makes me find myself at the beach with my thought process. Being able to clear my head and push all of the stress off of my shoulders helps. I already know that you should not expect life to come with ease, but I wasn’t expecting to feel the amount of added pressure so suddenly. Your life does not pause for you and it is always a constant uphill battle to get to the specific goals you want to achieve. Even though I seem to be coming back to this same subject frequently, I know a small break and releasing pressure is what is necessary to keep myself from going insane with stress. The amount of time and effort I have put into Stanford and my studies in general make me happy to know that this will all be worth it in the end. It may seem like a set back, but it is another one of those stepping stones I need to reach my end result. To those of you in my personal life, if I’ve been very busy lately or hard to get a hold of, you might want to check out one of your local beaches. I might be sitting there on the sand trying to relax. Feel free to join me.

Tagged as: beach, Burlingame, California, Los Angeles, Personal, San Francisco, School, Stanford, study, Work