This week, we are presenting two stories from people who took to the open ocean.

Part 1: As an irresponsible 17-year-old, Brian D. Bradley volunteers to spend two days living at the bottom of the ocean for a research study.

Part 2: As an undergrad, Beryl Kahn takes a semester at sea after a bad breakup and gets rocked by the swells of the sea -- and her emotions.

Brian Bradley started writing because he couldn’t draw.  At first he wanted to be a poet, but he quickly discovered that poems  are pretty difficult. Next, he tried dramatic stage plays, but the  results were kind of embarrassing.  Finally, he gave up and started  writing television for shows like MadTV, Scrubs and Happy Endings. He  co-created for television Uncle Buck for ABC and is the writer/producer  of a number of TV pilots he’s very proud to have been paid for, but that  you will probably never see. He’s very pleased to have a chance to  share a story for Story Collider and he still can’t draw. 

Beryl Kahn is finishing up her second year as a Masters' student at  Columbia University's department of Ecology, Evolution, and  Environmental Biology, or E3B, where she's been studying the genetics of  pollution resilience in oysters. Prior to starting grad school, she  worked as an educator and restoration tech at Randall's Island Park in  New York City, which cemented her niche as an urban marine ecologist. 

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