His feet rested in the coarse sand as the glistening sun hit his hands. Rowen rested on the beach while the crystal teal water was just a step away. On both sides, he saw his dearest friends smiling and laughing. A sense of joy overcame him like a flow of energy. He couldn’t help but feel content and full of happiness; it was at that moment that he realized this was the happiest moment of his life. Without a doubt in his mind, he made sure to truly enjoy this memory and cherish it forever.
Rowen Ian Harris was a student at The Columbus School who was born in Ecuador and raised in Florida. He came to the school in 2022, joining in 9th grade, where he made friends that he would eventually go out and hang out with. This was crucial to understanding Rowen’s “Happiest Memory.” He described this memory in an interview with me as “exciting.” This trip took place in Cartagena, which was a city on the coast of Colombia. This trip was not necessarily a school trip, but the whole 11th and 12th grade went on this trip. Rowen hadn’t been on a trip like this in his entire life, which was why it was so special. He made sure to clarify that just the fact that he was with his best friends made his trip better by a large margin.
Rowen arrived in Cartagena on a national flight, arriving at 7:00 pm. After unpacking and getting ready, there was always an event held on the second day where both grades arrived by boat to the same beach and had a celebration. Rowen attended and described having a great time. Later in the day, around 2 pm, was when Rowen had his happiest experience. The group Rowen was traveling with arrived at the beach and set up a tent. He said “When I was there, I definitely felt pretty happy. It was nice being in the water, you know, with the waves, the sun was just right, so it looked really nice.” (0:35). He recalled the environment that Rowen was in, which naturally made him feel at peace. He said, “I think about how the clouds looked when I was looking up in the sky, the clouds. Yeah, it was a nice orange and purplish color. It’s nice.” (0:56)
One thing about a memory is that it’s not here anymore. It’s not the present anymore; it’s the past. I really sympathize with Rowen’s experience because I, like everyone else, know how it feels to have happy memories. He said, “After the trip? Obviously, I was a little sad that I wasn’t there anymore and didn’t have the same freedom as I had there. But, you know, getting back home and having all those new memories was great” (4:13). Rowen spoke of this need for freedom because that’s something that makes us human — our decisions. He said, “If I were just alone in Cartagena, no parents, nothing, you know, I’d be stranded there. So, you know, that’d be a bummer.” (3:20). A clear point Rowen made is that being with friends and having the freedom to do whatever he wanted, and doing it with friends, was essential to understanding his memory.
One thing we can learn from Rowen is that we need to be in the present. We can worry about the past or the future, but it won’t do any good. This story, if you really try to find its meaning, is a story about being in the present. Freedom is another aspect, and I think the beach represents that perfectly. The beach is a place where you can run around, swim, and just have fun. There’s not much to stop you; your time on the beach is all yours. I hope that one day I can learn, just like Rowen, to exist in the present and nowhere else.
The present moment is the only moment we have; it is the door to all moments.