One of the most famous weeks in television recently came to an end. It is watched by fans like an addiction, it all started in 1987 when the Discovery Channel aired for the first time, Shark Week.

I am a huge fan, every year I wait in suspense to see what new sharks will be discovered and the action that keeps me glued to the television One thing to note…. I am deathly afraid of sharks! Their massive size, strength and teeth leave me petrified every time I am in the water.

My family and I take two tropical vacations a year. During those vacations, I am always in the sea water and every time I think a shark will come and snatch me up. Yes, I know that I am more likely to be struck by lightning than to be attacked by a shark, but the fear still gets to me.

I love to snorkel and scuba dive and until this past year the only shark I had seen was either dead or in an aquarium. Well, my family’s recent trip to Turks and Caicos lead me to go diving in one of the best reefs I had ever seen and I didn’t believe anyone when they said “you will definitely see a shark, no question.” Well… I did!

During the dive, my guide stopped me abruptly. When my eyes came into focus, a six-foot reef shark was merely four feet in front of me. I was petrified, I was in the middle of his kingdom! You know how they say, “don’t move” when you see a shark and everything will be fine. Well, I took that to the most literal sense. I froze in the swimming position I was in, my arms up and legs spread. My father had to pull me back by my flippers because I refused to move for fear that he would get me. So I faced my fear, literally, and I can say it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. Obviously, he didn’t eat me.

I am still afraid of sharks, but I am still going to get in the water and whenever August rolls around, I will continue to tune in for shark week. Maybe even one day I will fully conquer my fear and appear shark week!