Meet Mara Lopez, new Gameplan host

24 year-old Mara Lopez has been living all our mermaid dreams since she was a little girl. Her dad established the first surfing school in the Philippines in 1996, which meant that she was brought up to love and explore the sea.

“You start walking on the reef, the sand, and the smell of fresh air and saltwater just hitting your face… it’s just something you don’t get in the city,” she recounted.

Mara first tried surfing when she was 6 years old and learned to wake up early to catch the good waves.

“One of the most important things (my dad) taught me was to wake up ridiculously early so we can get the lineup all to ourselves. He said this is how we become one with the waves, when we get it all to ourselves. We wake up at 4 AM, start walking to the lineup before 5 and wait for sunrise,” she shared.

Since then, Mara’s love for surfing has deepened her relationship with nature and all things beautiful. What started as simply her sport, created ripples of positive change and continues to fuel her passion to take care of the world we live in.

“When I’m out there in the ocean, that’s the place that I feel closest to God. You see the sun, the sunrise, the sky, the clouds, the water, the fishes underneath you… You just everything that’s beautiful and I know I’m gonna be surfing for the rest of my life.”

“Surfing has given me a whole new perspective when it comes to taking care of our oceans. It has given me the heart to care for the environment more. I want to continue surfing in our beautiful oceans. I want my children to see it. I want my children’s children to see it. My game plan in life is to do everything I can to make this world a better place,” she said. – Rappler.com