My dream involved me somehow being trapped on a piece of plywood floating in the open ocean. How I came to be in this situation is a mystery since the dream started with me stranded. I started to feel very afraid, but for an unknown reason. Suddenly, the dream switched views and I saw the world underwater. It became apparent that I was seeing the world through the eyes of some acquatic predator. Then I saw the bottom of my plywood raft at which point I realized that the animal was hunting me. The predator bit my raft and destroyed it, at which point I sank into the water and the dream ended.
Being stranded on a piece of plywood indicates fear of a situation beyond your control, most likely starting a new year if you're an upperclassman or the whole prospect of starting college if you're a first-year. The ocean or, rather, lack of people around to help suggests that you feel alone in your struggle. Since you don't know how you got into that situation, I'd guess that you feel a bit rushed and unsure about starting college, and, from the fear for an unknown reason, even more uncertain about your future. Seeing yourself through the eyes of the predator could represent fear of self-destruction, as if any failure you fear is caused by your own doing. The abrupt ending sounds as if you are despondent on how to stop this, though you didn't quite die in your dream, which is probably your subconscious realizing the slightest glimmer of hope.
Being stranded in the ocean on the plywood resembles being in some type of situation in which you feel defenseless. Not knowing how you got into the situation means that this feeling, or the situation you have gotten into, is new and unexpected. You don't know what is going to happen, nor how to get yourself out of the situation safely. In this, you are living in the moment, as you cannot plan what is going to happen next, so you can only adjust to it when it happens. The sea creature can represent a fear, be it known or unknown. It may likely be some past actions that are known to negatively affect you, an achilles heel perhaps. You fear this action, and how it could affect the situation you are currently in. It also could be an event that is approaching that is very important and has caused/created a lot of stress, meaning that it is showing up in every facet of your life. The dream ending without knowing what happens signifies that you don't know how this situation will end, and that you most likely have the control about whether it ends well or not.
The fact that you were on a piece of plywood instead of sinking in the ocean shows how you had something supporting you, giving a sense of hope, although you stranded in the open sea. The open sea also represents the vastness of your confusion and your feeling of being lost as well as being isolated. I also think that your fear stems from the fact that you felt something bad will happen. When you become the aquatic predator, you become conscious about the fact that you are actually in danger, compared to before, where you simply felt afraid. This aquatic predator may represent how you fear some event that is about to happen such as having a quiz or your academic life in general. The raft, which was your last hope, is then destroyed by the aquatic predator, or your fear, drowning you into the sea. At this point you have become further lost and disoriented by your fear, drowning underwater.
