Posted by Rick Civelli | 01.11.2010 | WB Surf Camp News

Surf Camp Instructor of the Week Jan 10 – 16: Jen Young

Jen Young

Jen Young has been an amazing part of the Surf Camp Team for almost six years. Her excitement and enthusiasm for surfing is magnetizing, and everyone has fun when Jen’s around! She has directed our kid and teen summer camps as well as provided countless clients with professional instruction through our Carolina Surf School. She has also co-directed our Teen Costa Rica Surf Camp!

1. What drew you to a position at Surf Camp?

I love the ocean and enjoy sharing my passion for it with others. Everytime a person catches a wave, they get a big smile on their face, and I thought it would be really cool to see that all the time working with Surf Camp.

2. Who is your favorite surfer and why? Gidget because she played well with the boys. I have often been the only girl playing sports with the boys, so I relate well with her, plus she rides a wicked big long board and has a really cool bikini

3. When did you start surfing and where? I started “surfing” by standing on my boogie board as a kid in Boynton Beach, Fl. The first time I rode a surfboard was in Cocoa Beach, FL when I was 15. I got my first surfboard my freshmen year of college in Charleston. I mostly surfed Folley Beach.

4. What is your favorite surf break? Ollie’s Point in Costa Rica. I caught it so perfect the first time I went there, and it was my first full cover-up barrel.

5. What inspired you to start surfing? I love the ocean and love catching a wave any way I can, it was a natural progression.

6. Where was your most memorable session? Isla Coiba in Panama. This place is so ridiculously beautiful and it was just myself, 3 other girls, all close friends, and our boat driver. We fished, surfed, snorkled, ate clams off of the reef, chased lobsters and froliced with spotted dolphin. The water was so clear that you could see through the waves as you rode them. It wasn’t too big, or too small. Nice clean, open rights about chest high, a few barrels. UghHugh I can feel it now.

7. What is the worst wipeout you’ve ever had? Santa Catalina, Panama. It was our first day in Panama and We were ready to charge the surf, which was pumping. The break is about a 20 minute paddle, so the waves started looking bigger than when we left the shore. This is a reef break, so there was an easy paddle out in a channel, though long. As we got closer we realized the waves were pushing double overhead plus. Eeeeek. I was scared. I took off on a wave and ate it, but I mustered up the courage to take another wave, rode it for a short bit and then met “smiley”, a rock that sticks up from the reef and creates a shallow area. I was launched from my board, then taken up the face of the wave and thrown back down by the falls. Then recycle through the wave again. I finally got some air, only to take 3 more waves on the head. When I finally got back on the board I was seeing black spots, my legs were cramped and I was beat. I got out of the impact zone and saw a turtle in the lagoon. I took that as a sign to follow him and go in for the day. I felt so defeated, but the ocean will humble you and I appreciate it now.

8. What are some of your interests outside of surfing? Church, gardening, playing with my dog, cycling, swimming, running, reading, watching Bogie movies, cooking and eating.

9. What is your favorite movie? This is a tough question. As Bogie movies go, To Have and Have Not. I start every summer vacation off by watching Meatballs with Bill Murray after I have my traditional dawn patrol steak with Taryn. I love movies about summer camps. Favorite surf movie is Endless Summer or Big Wednesday

10. What is your favorite music? U2, Beatles and Frank Sinatra. I know, I’m a dork.

11. What is your favorite food? Seafood(especially cooked in banana leaf with a mango {favorite fruit} for dessert and I have to have coffee.

12. Where do you see yourself in five years? Still Teaching English at Hoggard, working at WB Surf Camp in the summers and still loving it, but it could change and I’m open for whatever God plans for me.

13. In your eyes, the three things you value most are: God, Family, Friends

To learn more about Jen, Click Here.