The construction was extremely loud, and he started having trouble sleeping. But every time Joe saw the ocean he pushed aside his negative thoughts, and was just thankful to be living next to something so remarkable.

The first year Joe got his property assessment he was surprised at how much the value increased. Joe would have been excited about this, but his property taxes went up also. For the first year he tried not to let this worry him. His surf shop was doing well and he felt he could make the payments.

After they finished construction by his house, Joe felt he had no more privacy because of the huge condominiums on either side of him. He felt small against these enormous monsters, as if he were standing in the middle of the Grand Canyon. With so many people coming to the beach every day, it started to get really messy.

When he would wake up in the morning he would find beer bottles from all the teenagers that were keeping him awake with their partying the night before. Joe's property taxes were rising so high it started to overwhelm him. He didn't know how he could make the payments. He had to work another job as a garbage man to make enough money to keep his house.

He was so stressed out even the ocean couldn't help him relax. Every night as he was slipping into a troubled sleep Joe would think "What could I have possibly done to deserve this."

Biography

Andrew Rouse is actually in India right now, participating in a three-week humanitarian project sponsored by a Salt Lake group called Youth Making a Difference. The group has adopted four orphanages in Chamba, India. He has spent the past nine months raising money and preparing English and health and hygiene lessons, says his mother, Jenny. In addition to helping the children in India, the program helps our kids learn to be adults. That's really a good thing. And that's a big part of what Andrew has done this year.

When he's not doing things like that, Andrew likes to snowboard; he reads all the time, and he plays the guitar.

"My husband and I are from California, and Malibu is like a second home," says his mother, who thinks that's where the idea for Andrew's entry came from. He relates to that ocean culture.

A junior at Highland High School, Andrew is the son of Jenny and Bill Rouse, Salt Lake City, and has a younger sister and brother.

—Carma Wadley