Ellie Viera

I’ve always had a deep love for the ocean, something that has followed me through almost every aspect of my life. There’s something about it that just continues to pull me back, like the tide rolling in and out.

My love for the sea began with mermaids. When I was little, I imagined being able to breathe underwater, to swim with colorful fish and explore coral reefs. My parents still laugh about how they couldn’t keep me away from water, even before I could walk. I began taking swim lessons when I was just 18 months old, and before long I was spending hours at the neighborhood pool with a plastic mermaid fin, holding my breath until my lungs burned and my eyes stung from chlorine. Summers in a small New England coastal town only made that love stronger. I’d scoop up crabs, go clamming in the wetlands, and build tide-pool “aquariums,” naming every creature “Mr. Nathan” after my swim coach.

The first time I snorkeled and later learned to scuba dive, it felt like stepping straight into the dream I’d had as a kid. Floating beneath the surface, surrounded by darting fish and the quiet crackle of coral, I felt completely at home.

Being tied to something so deeply—and having so many important experiences come from it—has shaped me into the person I am today. It’s made me more expressive with my thoughts and feelings, which connects directly to my ability to write more creatively. Writing has always been something I’ve been good at and enjoyed, especially when I took IB English in high school and had the opportunity to use my more imaginative side. I think that as someone who always has a lot of imagination bottled up, the two easiest ways for me to let it out are by interacting with something that encourages it—like my childhood obsession with mermaids or the experience of scuba diving—or by writing. On paper, I can express whatever I’m feeling, and it gives those thoughts and fantasies a place to come to life.

Although I’m not pursuing an English major at the University of Georgia, I’ve still enjoyed taking an English class and having that creative outlet accessible to me while the ocean is currently not.