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2021 Nellie Wong Magic of Movies High School Essay Runner Up

by Isabella Romeu, Galileo Academy of Science and Technology

My Octopus Teacher Essay

Have you ever felt lost, incomplete? We have all been there, it is in our nature to question what we are doing with our lives. Craig foster is a perfect example, for many years he thought he wanted to film movies with his brother in the desert, but he soon learns the ocean is what he truly longs for. It helped him feel more fulfilled with his life. Me on the other hand feel more complete with a whisk in my hand.

Craig’s childhood connects him to his natural world, his ability to have a life in and out of the water. To learn and befriend an octopus and introduce her to his son, and to teach his son that there is a whole other world in the ocean, and to learn about it with him. Craig has been called to the ocean ever since he was a little boy. He grew up on the “cap of storms” and every year his house would flood with ocean water, and he would enjoy it. Even after going to the desert to film with his brother he longed for the ocean, for the curiosity that it brought in with every wave. Craig felt lost without the ocean, as if he was drifting from the man he was. Craig calls the ocean “another planet”, “it’s like there is a three dimensional forest and you are flying through it”. The ocean was a sanctuary for him to escape his problems and to see things in a whole new light. He discovered there was a whole world barely anyone knows about yet he feels safe, “as if there is a 10 to 15 minute window where everything is ok”.

The pandemic was a hard time for me, moving away from the town I grew up in and where all my friends were. I felt lost so I took to baking to console me. I’ve baked the occasional brownie from a box with my family, but over the past few months I have been baking from scratch. I have learned so much from it too. You have to be precise with everything that you do, it takes time and you can’t rush into it or you will miss all of the fun and flavor. Baking also teaches you that not everyone will like what you do, some people aren’t baked goods people and you have to go out and find people that are.

Discovering new things in life is what makes it so amazing. It gives you new memories and a sense of fulfillment that you carry around with you wherever you go. Craig and I might not have the same hobbies, and we might be discovering different things, but we are still connected by curiosity and the idea that there is always more to learn.

Filed Under: Schools at the Festival

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