STUDENT ENTRY

“You have to count your underwear because if you have 30 pairs you can wear one every day!” Elizabeth excitedly told me as she contemplated our time remaining on the Harvey Gamage during a particularly cold bucket shower. We have been living on this ship for three months now, and we are all closer than ever before.

Photo credit: Jackson Stevens

Today is my 17^th birthday, and definitely my happiest. Living on a ship is so unlike living in your own house, closed up in your own little world. I woke up at four this morning to get on watch and a flood of Happy Birthday’s comes to my ears. I am special here, completely welcomed and loved. On land, birthdays seem so much less significant… someone could easily think, “Oh, another person out of the seven billion on earth is having a birthday. Woop-dee-doo. Millions of other people are probably celebrating their birthday today, too.” It is nothing like that on the Harvey Gamage. No one can’t acknowledge my birthday- there are only 31 of us on board! In this world I am an important subject in everyone’s life; I felt love from every person on board, as well as from my family and friends back on land.

During daily almanac, I got a huge group hug and everyone sang to me. My watch spelled out “MEG BIRTHDAY” in signal flags on the mainmast and flew them all day (the most nautical birthday card I’ve ever received). Pierre cooked a double chocolate cake for dessert with my name on it. I lost track of how many hugs I got today.

The quote on the board today is on a conversation I had with Audrey last night:

            Audrey: “Meg, what do you want to be when you grow up?”           

            Me: “AWESOME!”