Finality and the Future

Throughout this entire program we have been forming relationships and having all kinds of crazy, amazing experiences that make it my favorite Stanford experience thus far. We have learned so much about the movement of the waters in the ocean and how to harness the winds to takes us from one place to another. We have had many star frenzies with us scrambling around the quarter deck shouting, "Standby Jordan on Sirius," waiting for "Standby, Jordan" to bring the star down to the horizon and gain our approximate location, interspersed with countless tea times in the middle of evening and dawn watch marveling at the expanse of the universe and talking about whatever crazy salp (all hail the great salp!) or lucifer shrimp we found in the neuston tow that night. Through all of this we have been learning to sail our vessel, the Robert C. Seamans in preparation for this third and final leg of our journey, where the students will take over as junior watch and lab officers. As our journey nears its end and we enter this final portion of our voyage I can't help but think about all that has transpired and what amazing memories this experience has made.

Today as I was watching water spout up through the blowholes on the southern coast of Tongatapu I couldn't help but think about the fact that in less than ten days we will be docked in Pago Pago culminating our journey and parting ways for the first time in five weeks. When I first had that thought I was overcome with a sense of sorrow and a desire for this trip to continue on and never end. I truly believe that this has been one of the happiest times in my life and I don't want that to go away. Throughout all of our dawn watches from 0100 to 0700, the rough and calm seas, and the incredible foreign port-of-calls our entire group has grown closer and become a family aboard the Robert C. Seamans. The thought of not being with these people every day as we travel around the oceans is not one I enjoy. As I pondered the concept of a never -ending trip more and tried to find the silver lining, I realized that it wouldn't be as special if we were constantly on this voyage. We would get into more of a routine and everything would become so normal and mundane. Part of what makes this trip so special is that it is only for a limited amount of time. We are lucky in terms of SEA voyages in that the students all go to the same university and can have reunions more easily, but we likely will never have another period of time on a ship together, especially with all of our amazing staff from SEA.

Though I will probably never be together again with all of the inhabitants of the Robert C. Seamans from these past five weeks, they will forever hold a special place in my memory for all of the crazy experiences that we have had together since embarking on this voyage. The memories from the past five weeks are made that much sweeter with the realization that this is it and each moment is precious on this glorious vessel. I have been thinking about a quote by one of my professors at Stanford a lot recently.

He says that, "the future informs the present and the present informs the past." This means that we often don't know the full significance of a moment while we are in it. On this trip it is easy to say it is just another day on the Robert C. Seamans, or wonder why we have to get up for evening watch again after dawn watch that morning but looking back on the trip thus far, each of those watches and every single day is significant. I think we all have a sense of this concept when something happens and we look back on how we got there and things make sense that didn't before, but I think it is very difficult to remember in the moment. The finality of this trip and the limited time that we have on this vessel with these people is a part of the future that helps to inform every moment that we spend on the lab rooftop giving our spotlights or the many hours on deck and in the main salon playing music together.

We as students can't possibly know the full effect of that this trip will have on our lives. From the experiences we have had to the skills we have gained and the relationships we have formed this voyage is sure to be an important event when we look back on our lives, years in the future. Yet, like other beautiful moments the fact that they are just moments is part of what makes them even more special. I may want this trip to go on forever but I am glad it is not. The fact that we only have eight more days together aboard the Robert C. Seamans makes each of those days that much more special and each of the days we have already had so significant.

For reference here is a list of other moments or events that are improved by their finality:
Sunsets and Sunrises
Holidays
Family vacations
 Time at home from school
Rain showers
Rainbows
The night stars
Life

-Jordan Ferre