Sean Kimball’s face may seem familiar to you. You may have seen him in class, in the halls, or maybe on the beach. But it’s more likely that you’ve his Mormon Message for the Youth, “No Regrets.” The video tells the story of Kimball’s dilemma of whether to attend surf practice or Seminary. During high school Kimball was one of the best surfers on his school’s surf team. However practices were held Tuesday and Thursday morning, the same time as Seminary. For a time Kimball went to surf practice, but he said he could tell something was missing. “I just didn’t do my best when I wasn’t going to Seminary. I was tired and I just couldn’t surf well. I decided afterwards that I needed to go to all of seminary,” said Kimball. Afterwards Kimball said he could see the benefits of Seminary. He says he felt happier, and did better during his surfing competitions. Kathryn Moore, a junior studying marketing from Colorado, shared a similar experience of sacrifice. “I had to give up early morning softball practice and that was super hard for me. But it really helped me know who I was and why I was doing it. It gave me my spiritual boost for the day.” Kimball later went on to win first place in the National Scholastic Surfing Championship, the top prize for high school surfers. On the Mormon Messages website, Kimball has more than 180,000 views making him an Internet celebrity, but Kimball said he doesn’t let the attention faze him. “It’s still kinda weird to me that it became so popular. Sometimes I’ll get Facebook messages from random people saying ‘Thanks’ or ‘You’re so cool.’ Stuff like that,” said Kimball. Since returning from his two-year mission in the Dominican Republic, Kimball has been going to school and hitting the waves. He hopes to one day become a pro surfer and travel the world. The surf companies, Proof and Cmmty, currently sponsor Kimball. “Surfing is one of my passions. When I don’t surf,” he said, his life doesn’t go so well. “Out there on the water, I feel relaxed and that’s where I have some of my deepest pondering moments,” said Kimball. Mike Hartmann a sophomore studying biology from Las Vegas, Nev., said he imagines life out on the waves can be pretty exciting. “I’ve heard stories of the barrel. The glass wall of water is a thing of beauty. You can stick your hand into the barrel and your whole world just melts away for that one moment in time." As Kimball has shown before, he said he always put his spirituality before surfing. “I never go surfing on Sundays. It doesn’t matter what the reason is I don’t surf on Sundays. I will never let my commitment to living the gospel interfere with my surfing.”
Writer: Homer Wolman~Multimedia Journalist
