One of the things I was very proud to accomplish over the summer was a trip I took with my dad in Connecticut to catch crabs. It might sound simple or boring to people who don’t like the outdoors, but this was something special to our family, a tradition. The experience taught me more than I expected, especially about patience and how rewarding it feels when your hard work finally pays off.

My dad and I took the exhausting 2–hour drive to Connecticut, hoping for a very successful haul of huge blue crabs. At first, things were going horribly. We got to our spot and waited for what felt like forever for absolutely nothing. Not even a baby crab, which felt like a punch to the gut, considering we always get plenty of huge blue crabs there. Other people were crabbing as well. While waiting, I even had a conversation with another kid who was also having a tough time catching crabs. At one point, he accidentally dropped his net into the water. Without missing a beat, I swooped my net in, scooped his up, and handed it back to him. I was thanked many times, and this small gesture did make me feel a lot better, even though I was so frustrated at the absence of crabs.

Eventually, my father and I decided to change locations. We found this other dock that did not seem too promising either, but we decided to try it anyway. After just 5 minutes, I spotted probably the biggest crab I have ever seen. With much cooperation and the crab tugging at our bait, we finally scooped it up, marking our first successful catch so far. From then on, it was smooth sailing, and we caught many huge crabs after that, even 2 at once!

After a couple of hours, we packed up and drove the two hours back home to Massachusetts. When we got back, we cooked the crabs we caught and had a whole dinner based on our hard work from the day. It felt so satisfying because we had caught it ourselves, and it felt like all our hard work paid off. Especially because everyone loved the crab.