much of the sea otter misinformation on the internet. Basically, like m o s t humans, the girls are so much better. The Monterey Bay Aquarium holds five non-releasable female sea otters. These are otters that were rescued off the coast of California and due to health issues, were deemed non-releasable and are now cared for in captivity. Behind the scenes, these females act as surrogate
THROUGH IT ALL
by Isabella Dawson
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rowing up, I always heard about “high school sweetheart” stories and never thought I would be one of those people; but, I met the love of my life at 16 and now at 24 I love him even more than I did then. My fiancé and I were sophomores in high school when we first met. I was an overly confident (though secretly, morbidly insecure) girl, and he was just a cute guy I knew through friends. After drunken kisses at house parties and discovering our shared love for going to concerts, we quickly fell for each other, and it felt like I had known him deeply for ages. Fast forward eight years, and we
into the wild to continue to bolster their habitat. In the years since the Aquarium began releasing otters to seagrass beds in the coastal wetlands have rapidly expanded — evidence of the power of sea otters to restore wetland ecosystems. mothers to other rescued sea otter pups that they raise as their own. By teaching these pups the skills needed to be wild sea otters, like grooming and foraging, the aquarium is then able to release the pups into the wild. This surrogate program has been in effect for over 15 years and hundreds of stranded sea otter pups have been rehabilitated and released back
have been through so much life together. When you meet someone at such a young age and have a longterm commitment to each other, you have to grow together throughout so many phases: starting college and deciding when you’re 18 what you want to do for the rest of your life, getting into careers you don’t know if you are happy doing, being asked a million times “when’s the wedding?!” Luckily for us, we still love and like each other for the people we continue to change to be through these phases. Not to say that there weren’t ever any hiccups in our relationship, but we always chose each other through it all; through our younger, teenage heartbreaks and hurts to now, as we navigate the confusing, ever changing “thing” that is adulthood.
During this season of love, call your mom and thank her for raising you, loving you, and nurturing you into the person you are today. And if you’re feeling the extra fluffy love, check out a 24-hour livestream of the otters at Monterey Bay Aquarium where you can also donate to support the program.
And I’m glad to still love him, for the man he is now, for the support and joy he brings me daily, and for the boy that he was in high school, who taught me what it was to long for someone so deeply that nothing else mattered. I feel so lucky to have met someone early in my life who understands me innately; he can read what I am thinking just by looking at me. I cherish all our small moments at home with our two dogs, stealing kisses in the kitchen, and doing puzzles on the weekend. I look forward to marrying him and traveling the world together. Who knows the people we will be in 20 years, but I do know that I have found my person to go through it all with.
THE POST GRAD GAZETTE, FEBRUARY 13, 2024
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