Lessons for Riding Through Life

Champion surfer Shaun Tomson was on hand for April’s First Thursday Open Breakfast Club to share his powerful message of courage and perseverance with Anacapa. His powerful and enlightening presentation focused on the influence of positive values on success in life, based on his own experiences of overcoming challenges both in and out of the ocean.

Shaun is the best-selling author of “Surfer’s Code: 12 Simple Lessons for Riding through Life” and award-winning documentary filmmaker of “Bustin’ Down the Door.”

Student responses:

Aiyana, Age 14:
“Dear Shaun, I really enjoyed the presentation.  And to tell you the truth, I thought I wouldn’t, because I’m not a surfer.  But in the end, I realized that you not only spoke of surfing, but also of the difficulties and decisions that we all make and share in life.  I learned that I should always ‘paddle back out’, even when the road is tough.  And I could relate to your presentation because I often face many of the challenges that you told us we will have to overcome.  So thank you for your presentation.”

Odalys, Age 14:
“This presentation was a really interesting one.  It has been my favorite of the whole year.  I learned about the effect perseverance can have on your entire life.  It was really relevant to my life because there’s been a lot of times when I wanted to quit something I’ve been doing for so long and do nothing, but this has given me the strength and confidence to never give up.”

Gazal, Age 17:
“I thoroughly enjoyed your presentation today!  I cannot tell you the amount of confidence those two little words ‘I will’ gave me.  I am a high school senior, so what path I choose to take next year will impact my future greatly.  However, after your presentation, I have learned that we don’t control our path, our path controls us.  I will play along with my life and hopefully find something that I have an unaccountable amount of passion for.  Thank you so much for sharing your story as well as giving the future generation advice on how to continue persisting and to never turn your back on a wave.”

Clayton, Age 15:
“Your presentation went further than expectation and was by far the best Breakfast Club all year.  The heart and knowledge you put into your presentation is something I won’t soon forget.”