How Golf Changed My Life

The journey of competitive swimming started at the age of eight for my local `neighborhood team. I exhibited great potential for the future, for I won nearly all my races. This seemed like the sport

My parents tell me that I took to swimming like... a fish takes to water. It is a safe place where I can float free of worries. Driven by passion and dedication, I decided to begin swimming competitively. Competitive swimming requires an intense level of determination and discipline. Forcing myself to get out of my warm bed at 5:30 in the morning to put on a still-slightly-damp swimsuit and stand in 40-degree weather waiting for practice to start. Putting up with limited lane space and irritating swimmers who think they are faster. Making a conscious effort to work on my stroke form, turns, touches, and techniques. The water becomes a whirlpool of injuries, losses, wins, friendships, enemies, and sickness. The water becomes home.

Throughout my life, I have had experiences that have shaped the way I am today. Growing up my mom and dad were my biggest inspirations, and they still are now. I remember coming home from school to work on big projects, and they would suggest ideas instead of directly helping me with the project. It seemed so insignificant at the time; however, now I realize that they have helped me to think on my own. They have also taught me to put my best effort forth the first time I participate in something. I believe that I am more careful, thoughtful, and hardworking when I work on different projects because of this. Over the years, my parents have instilled strength and independence into my life, and have supported me through all the ups and downs. My parents are the ones to thank for the way I am today, a strong, independent, hardworking, and thoughtful young lady. Sports have also shaped my character, especially soccer. Soccer has been my thing ever since I was little. This year I finished my senior season and realized that all the years of joy had come to an end. With all the sadness that came from this, I was also brought to happiness because soccer had influenced my life in so many ways. Soccer involved communicating with my teammates. If I was not forced to talk out on the field, then I might be a more introverted person. Being more vocal, has led me to come out of my shell and talk with those around me in everyday conversation. Soccer involved loosing. No one likes to loose,

When I was five years old, I joined the Carroll Aquatic Swim Team. I stuck with it because I loved being underwater, feeling the refreshing water all over and the sensation of touching the wall, finishing first hearing the people holler. When I got older I just didn’t have much care for it. So, I decided that I wanted to give up. Then, my mom told me that I should finish the season than I could determine, nevertheless, I did as I was told. At my last meet, my mom signed me up to swim the IM which is when you swim all four strokes. I was convinced that I couldn’t do it because I had never done it before. I told my mom that I couldn’t and I would fail, but my friend convinced me that I should do it. She told me that I would only disappoint people if I gave up; consequently, I swam and received first place. In conclusion, I ended up feeling the same exciting feeling as when I was five.

Through all of my research, one thing was constant; the single most important thing that a coach can do is build a relationship with their players. When coaches take their time to get to know each and every one of their players, the chances of the athlete respecting and responding to the coach are much greater. Giving the athlete a feeling of belonging, importance, and welcoming will increase their confidence and most likely their level of play as well. In his article, Scales explains how developing positive relationships results in athletes not only with better athletic ability, but also with better emotional control, social skills, and connection to school and community (20). One of the most important characteristics of having a relationship with the athlete is caring for them. Florida Tech swim coach thinks the most important

Imagine taking one step into a chlorine-filled arena. The humid air rushes onto your skin. An immense smile spreads across your face. This is because you know everything is about to change. In less than 24 hours you will be holding a glistening gold medal in your hand, standing up on the podium while the Star Spangled Banner blares for the whole world to hear and tears will stream down your face. Taking one look back at your coach, Teri McKeever, you realize if it wasn’t for her you would not be here. Graciously, you run up, swing your arms around her body, and embrace her in a powerful hug that says it all. Swimming is a very intense sport and consumes every second of a swimmer’s free time. However, putting in hundreds

I’ve been playing golf with my Pa since I was 7 years old. I loved the alone time with my Dad, but until I turned 14, the game was just a way to get attention from him. When I was 11, we moved to Washington, DC so that my Dad could study English. He didn't have much time left for golf, but we did have lots of time to explore. I loved being in a new place, a new country, and I loved learning English. Even though I took golf lessons once a week, I didn't compete, and surprisingly, I missed golf!

If I have an opportunity to go back to the time when I started learning golf, I would not have stop playing it. I made a mistake that I decide to give up learning golf. When I was grad three, my parents encouraged me to start golf lessons and started teaching me the basic. They wanted me to learn a sport that we can share the interest and play together. When I just started at the beginning, I enjoyed learning golf as much as for the next lesson. Our family went to driving range quite often to practice golf swing. As my learning processes, my mother thought I had on playing golf. However, I was not able to continue playing golf because our family immigrated to Canada at that time I did not play golf for few years to acclimatize to school life

When I first joined the North Attleboro Swim Team my freshman year of high school, I did not know what to expect. Prior to joining, I had never swam on a team before so it was a whole new experience to me. As the first week of swim started, I was apprehensive if I wanted to continue since I was not on the same caliber as my other teammates were. The practices were brutal but extremely rewarding, as I strived to prove myself and to my coaches. As my freshman season was under way, a couple of upperclassmen took

“I can’t imagine where we would be in life if we were not happy with our experiences. I have never been one to be driven by anything other than an appreciation for life. That is the vision through which I run my life.” Staying happy and curious is a good way to keep going in life on a path to success. Prior to making a move to Tide Swimming in Virginia Beach, Jackson Roach was the National Youth Team Head Coach for the United States and previous to that National Team Coach’s and Athlete’s Consultant. Roach has more than 40 years of high level coaching experience, which includes mentoring and training olympic medalist and multiple national swimming champions (Roach, 2017). Jackson Roach can be credited for many notable success stories among many Olympians which has aided USA Swimming multiple times to Olympic victory. Roach’s history has proven that his strategy of applying past knowledge to new situations in order to succeed, along with understanding each individual is a perfect formula for attaining each swimmer’s full potential.

I had four different swim coaches growing up and two of them were significantly influential in demonstrating how I wanted to be as a person and leader. From the age of five and until sixth grade, I did not have much of a connection or relationship with my coaches. It was more of a swim program that was held after school with some year round competitions. Once I entered Junior High School, swimming became more serious. I ended up trying out and making the year round national competition team. I swam for Mission San Jose Aquatics until the end of summer in 2006. My coach’s name was Debbie Potts. Debbie Potts was someone that everyone respected. She earned her respect by how she treated others with respect and with being a very supportive person. My relationship with her was good and I spent a lot of time with her since I was one of her top swimmers. During the summers I would work for her, helping her managed aspects of the team’s paper work, in addition to helping her with her business in vending swimming apparel and gear. Not only did I get

During the spring of 2015, I missed all of the time cuts to make Speedo Sectionals, forcing me to compete in a much slower meet at the end of the season. There are few things I have experienced that are more crushing than trying my hardest and falling short of my goal. Despite the heavy disappointment, I used the opportunity to harden my resolve and use my strengths to my greatest advantage. Along with my coach’s help, I used my ability to think strategically and hone my technique through focus on the smallest details from how I would approach a swim mentally to how I would warm up. My coach had many important and useful suggestions and lessons from his past experience that required me to be an active learner that could apply his information.

After two patient years of golfing, the weather was perfect to play with. As I look over the lush green grass, my father besides me casted a shadow over me. The freshly cut grass, reminded me of possibly getting a hole in one. As I start to walk on the pathway towards hole one, I start to mentally prepare myself. “I can do it. Play confidently and play to win,” as I mumble to myself. It’s just important to be physically prepared as mentally. My dad, jokingly says, “I’ll give you a ‘gazillion’ dollars if you land a hole-in-one.” Well my dad, better get that “gazillion” dollars ready, because he is in for a surprise.

“Get up now,” My mom yelled down the hallway. “Hurry or you’ll be late!” My brother and I dreaded waking up early to swim, but we had chosen to commit. Even though I’ve competed every year since first grade, I still struggled. That summer swimming taught me to have stamina, the ability to not quit even though it was hard.

At Emory, I feel that I could most accurately be described as a student-athlete. Academic success takes priority while I’m at Emory, but swimming is a close second. Spending hours daily in the pool, I have become a part of a tight-knit collection of academically and athletically prosperous students. Struggling through difficult sets and disappointing races together makes celebrating success even sweeter. We lean on each other for strength when we feel as if we don’t have enough individually. This team is comprised of caring individuals who work together to make the whole better than the individuals. From this community I have become a better team player and now I can add to the uplifting environment by drawing upon some of my innate qualities that make me a good teammate: I am supportive, dedicated, patient, kind, and hardworking. One of the unique characteristics of the swim team is that we don’t only work on creating a great community within the team, but we try to spread that excitement and desire for success to other communities. The swim team makes great contributions the Emory community by hosting Special Olympics every week at our pool and making appearances at many events such as sporting events and freshman move