“Always Get Up:” Life Lessons from a Surfer

Editor’s note: Last fall, Maya Karl, a business administration student and professional surfer, delivered a speech, “Surfing into the Future,” to the Annual County Assessor’s Association Conference in Pismo Beach. During that presentation, Karl shared life lessons learned from surfing with 125 elected officials, including county assessors and sheriffs from across California. Afterward, we asked Maya to write a first-person piece, based on that speech, for Orfalea News.

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I had a unique life growing up. I was raised in two places that are worlds apart.

I was born in Rockaway Beach, New York City, a unique surf town blending metropolitan and beach culture. At ten, I moved to Isabela, Puerto Rico — a small, rural town where I was immersed into a culture completely different from my own. I spent my days in the water, navigating the ebb and flow of the waves. On land, I watched my parents embrace our Russian-Jewish and Uzbek heritage through our two restaurants, combining unusual plates of food in beach towns where both cultures were underrepresented.

I started surfing at six — reluctantly. My father, an avid surfer in his day in Newport Beach, encouraged me to try it at least once. I remember not wanting to paddle out at all, but when I finally caught my first wave, I stood up and instantly fell in love with that thrill every surfer knows: exhilaration. From then on, my passion for surfing took off. Every summer and fall, I surfed hurricane swells in Rockaway, and when I moved to Puerto Rico, I surfed over coral reefs for hours on end, developing a love for training and competition.

With support from my sponsors and my dad, I began competing internationally on the Qualifying Series tour and the ALAS Pro Tour. I joined the Puerto Rican Junior Olympic Team and attended several ISA World Championships. My best competitive result came in November of 2023, when I turned 18 and finished 8th in Latin America on the Junior Pro Tour.

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Photo Gallery: Maya Karl at the beach, on campus and speaking to an assessors conference. (Photos by Jahan Ramezani)

Surfing is integral to my identity and has shaped who I am. It’s one of the main reasons I chose Cal Poly—I couldn’t pass up the idea of surfing Morro Bay before morning classes. Growing up in the restaurant industry, I also developed an interest in business. I managed my parents’ rental properties and social media. At Cal Poly, I aspire to concentrate in quantitative analysis, as I’m particularly interested in statistics and data analytics. During my gap year, I taught myself calculus and basic computer programming to prepare for Cal Poly’s rigorous coursework. Surfing has taught me discipline, which has directly impacted my study habits.

In fact, surfing has taught me multiple lessons I think all college students could benefit from.

The first is adaptation. In surfing, we constantly adapt to ever-changing conditions, which is what makes it so unique and special. Not one wave is the same. As a surfer, I encounter experiences daily where Mother Nature shows both her beauty and danger. These experiences have taught me to adapt and accept, lessons I’ve applied to life outside of surfing, especially with my move to California. Moving across the country without knowing anyone on the West Coast, or even at Cal Poly, was both amazing and challenging. Learning to adapt to new environments, whether in the ocean or in life, has taught me to be present.

In surfing, the moment there is hesitation, it’s over. So learning how to be confident has carried over to my life as a Cal Poly student.

The second life lesson is to create your own opportunities. If you’re a surfer, you know the thrill when the surf report says waves are 6-8 feet in the “epic range.” You set an alarm for 5:30 a.m., scramble to get your sandy wetsuit, and drive a bit too fast down Highway 1 to get to the beach, only to find the waves… kind of suck. Now, you have a choice: Go home or make the most of the conditions in front of you. Choosing to surf regardless has taught me to seize opportunities. Next time I’m nervous about approaching a professor or joining a new club, I remind myself to just go for it! You never know what an opportunity may bring.

Maya Karl surfs an overhead wave in El Salvador. (Photo/Courtesy of Maya Karl)

The third lesson is to always get up. In surfing, wipeouts happen all the time. Some are brutal; others are painless.

On my sixteenth birthday, I paddled out on an 8-12 foot day at a renowned wave in Puerto Rico. It was one of the best days of the season, with the ocean’s sheer power making the ground shake.

About an hour in, I saw a massive wave out in the horizon. I looked around, and to my surprise, all eyes were on me — It was my turn. I scrambled to position myself, and I threw myself onto the wave. I swear when I dropped into the wave, I was flying at 300 miles per hour.

The fins of my surfboard were barely catching grip, and then, I fell — hard. I tumbled underwater for what felt like minutes. As I neared the surface, another wave crashed down. It was the closest I’ve ever come to drowning.

With no oxygen left, I somehow managed to reach the surface. As I open my eyes, my vision is black. I was completely disoriented and did not know where I was in the ocean.

With no one close by, I knew I had to reach the beach. I somehow got back on my surfboard, and let the waves roll me into shore. I then collapsed into the sand, contemplating what had just happened.

I was shaken, terrified, and filled with doubt. But I didn’t let this one experience deter me from surfing. Surfing has taught me to never give up, and I knew this liminal moment would be crucial to my testament to be strong.

A few days later, I returned to the same spot and had one of my best surf sessions ever.

Maya Karl speaks to a crowd of elected officials in Pismo Beach last fall. (Photo/Jahan Ramezani)

It’s normal to fall more times than not when surfing. What matters is that if you fall 1,000 times, you get up 1,001 times. This applies to every area of life. If you fail a test, perform poorly in an interview, or face rejections, what are you going to do? Will you give up, or will you keep trying until you succeed?

Surfing has taught me that to be successful, you must fail. If you’re not falling, you’re not pushing yourself hard enough.

Surfing has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. It’s led me to lifelong friendships around the world, to corners of the globe I’d never have seen otherwise, and, ultimately, to Cal Poly.

My final advice to all would be: Next time you have a chance to try something new, don’t hesitate—just go for it! At the end of the day, we’re all Cal Poly students, and learning by doing is what makes us the “go-getters” of our generation.