Bike For the Ocean (BFO) Intro: Transforming Purposelessness into Passion

As a member of the class of 2020, I was angry, disappointed, and deeply saddened when my senior year, the climax of my k-12 education, was abruptly cancelled. With a flood of uncertainty, I fell into a dark space when soccer, rock climbing and senior beach trips my friends and I had planned were off the table. A tsunami hit me within when a long-distance friend contracted Covid-19 and many people were laid off as the economy tanked. Suddenly, from the apex moment of my life thus far, I was left with what felt like nothing (I am sure you all can relate). Yet, I refused to remain still and stay silent. Since everything was closed, I took to the trails. I began to channel that pent-up emotion of disappointment, fear, and uncertainty… into biking. Over the past two months, I started with 10-mile rides and have worked my way to 50+ mile rides. While biking around the Chesapeake watershed in and around Washington D.C, I began to notice large amounts of food waste and plastic litter that was in and on the banks of the Potomac River. The beauty and peace of nature I once felt became tainted with waste storming the riverbanks. This sparked a drive within, to take action around ensuring children in my neighborhood have access to food, while reducing waste around our watershed.

I created Bike for the Oceans, an 8-week interactive educational series that aims to better connect human health to ocean health and boost the two simultaneously. By learning a toolkit to combat the problems of life above and below the surface, you can become an Ocean Guardian and take action to improve the state of our ocean. This educational series aims to inspire young people to take care of our watershed as Ocean Guardians. Fortunately, there is hope during these uncertain times, if we inspire change within ourselves and others. We can use this time during Covid-19 as a springboard for introspection and action, coming out even stronger than before. We are all powerful creators – our community and ocean need us now more than ever before! This is a call to action on a massive scale and it starts with a simple intention, a goal to take care of ourselves, so that we make take care of the world…