Surfing: it's not just for guys anymore. (voices).

FALLSTON, MARYLAND--If you asked high school girls to name their favorite athletic pastime, most would probably say field hockey, lacrosse, softball, basketball, or soccer. I happen to be one of the few girls who would answer: surfing. But isn't that a guy thing? some people wonder. Most definitely not.

I started surfing about five years ago and fell in love with the sport on the very first day. Riding that first wave--the pure, unbridled energy it gave off--was the best feeling I had ever experienced.

When I try to compare surfing with other things, I find it very difficult because, in my life, there's nothing like it. The adrenaline rush is like riding on a roller coaster or in a fast car. Surfing is much more than that, though. It involves body, mind, and soul. There is sand between my toes and cool, salt water all around me. The feeling I get when I am gliding across the water, becoming one with the ocean, is like I am weightless.

I've heard guys make comments like, "Are you gonna surf that wave?" as if I were incapable of doing so. Well, in case no one has noticed, girls can surf and some do surf very well.

One of the lures of the sport is that it's something new and exciting. It's not publicized often and there isn't a competition on TV every weekend, but there are many pro surfers--some of them women like Layne Beachley and Rochelle Ballard. I try to follow their careers closely.

The one thing I can get from surfing and not any other sport is endless challenge. One can never be the "best surfer" because the ocean offers an uncountable variety of waves that no person can ever master. The variations of surfing styles are amazing. Some surfers are free and flowing; others are very aggressive and sharp. All of these things lure me to surfing and make it different from any other sport.

I have tried to tell every girl I know to do something bold that people don't think girls can accomplish. It's part of being human to advance to new levels, so shouldn't it be expected that girls should step up and start pushing the limits of things boys and men used to dominate?

There are women working side by side with the President of our country, so why not side by side with the guys on the hockey team or the football team or out in the water surfing? Give girls an opportunity to succeed, and they will.

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