How Swimming Has Affected My Life

I've experienced a lot of events which had great impact on me since I was young. Thinking of life changing events, the one I would like to share is when I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. It was a very devastating day for me. A day that changed my life. I never thought Id get through but today I can say that Diabetes has changed me for the better.

Sports have been a huge part of my life ever since I was about five years old. It has impacted my life so much. The biggest challenge that I faced was with my injuries during basketball and soccer season. I recently had to quit soccer and basketball, which was difficult for me.

“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.

Everyone has an event in their life that helped changed them in some way or stood out to them in some type of way in their life. Rather if it is, something like a birth of a child, a death of a family member or even receiving a job. A significant event in my life and helped me grow as a person was when I decided to pack up and move to Houston, Texas. My move to Texas may have been short but in that short period it helped me to grow to be more independent and to provide for myself and much more. When I made the moved to Texas, I moved with family members that I knew but I was not close with it.

The school day ends, and while most students go home, swimmers still have one final practice to complete before heading home. In the time before practice starts, those who are participating in conference take a look at the psych sheet with all their times and competitors’ times with mixed emotions.

People need self-motivation to succeed because not every problem can be solved by others, some have to be solved by oneself. When conflicts arise, individuals need to seek out the path of best fit to conquer the issue at hand. Throughout my entire childhood, I aspired to be a great swimmer. When I was a young adolescent, my favorite sport to watch during the Olympics was swimming. How could someone move so fast through the water? The extremely close races and extraordinary comebacks always excited me. I wanted experience the thrill for myself.

If there’s one event that has made a huge impact in my life it would have to be a roll over car accident that my parents, aunt, and I were when I was in sixth grade. This car accident has impacted me negatively by leaving me with PTSD and positively by figuring out what career I am pursuing.

My life events are something that impacted my life a lot. The most impactful is the birth of my little brother. Before he was born I had 3 sisters and that was it. Now I have 3 sisters and a red headed little brother. His birthday is February 15, 2015 and he is know 19 months old and this month was his first time on an airplane.

In sports you often think about going pro, very few of us will in fact make it there.

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Hearing the whistle, I immediately dove into the water. It was just a typical afternoon swim practice and the regional swim meet was almost here. We’ve been training and practicing all season for this event. Every afternoon after school we would go to the YMCA pool to practice. I’ve been working on long distance swimming, such as the freestyle 200 and 500. The night before the regional swim meet arrived, and I happened to get sick. I felt weak, stiff, and exhausted. There was no way I could do well in any event that was going to occur the next day. I took some medicine and had some tea to try and feel better. Nothing really helped. All there was to do was hope. The next day arrived… feeling sick

Bo Jackson once said “set your goals, and don’t stop till you get there. ”Being in athletics for so many years has had a great deal of influence in my life. It has helped me academically, and it has improved my socialization skills that will later be an asset to me in my journey to pursue a business degree. I now have better time management skills that helps me focus on what I need to do before I get distracted with everything else going on in my life. My involvement in many sports has influenced my appreciation for my family, furthermore it has helped me mature along the way.

During the swim season of my sophomore year I was at the peak of my swimming career. I was swimming great times and had a very successful season. Prior to the regional swim meet I was qualified and all I had to do was swim my qualifying times to advance to the 1A/2A state swim meet. Exactly one week before the regional meet I broke my foot in two places. I was heartbroken because for a swimmer this is what you train for all year long. I felt like all my hard work and hours in the pool were for nothing. I immediately began physical therapy and told my parents I wanted to try and swim the following Saturday at regionals. My foot was not in a cast, but in a boot. My physical therapist even told me there was no way I would be able to swim at regionals.

The most impactful event in my life so far was the two week service trip I took to Ecuador with Renbrook in june of 2015. It was a two week service trip in which we would be helping at medical clinics and building wheelchair ramps for a school for disabled kids. I went into the trip having no idea how much of an impact it would have on my life, and I definitely had no idea that I would create strong bonds with people I had never even met. I came out of this trip a different person, a better person.

The most impactful event of my life occurred near the end of my 8th grade year. My sister and I attended a middle school that was at the top of the hill in our town. Since, we lived only a short distance from the bottom of the hill, we decided we would just walk home everyday instead of riding the bus. I had done a fair amount of hiking and backpacking before this point, which led to me thinking that paved roads were boring. I soon learned that by cutting across the hillside we could get home faster and it would be more enjoyable. The “trail” I ultimately decided to use was not by any means safe. Furthermore, it would only get worse.

Life seems to take many twists and turns that somehow mesh into each other to form a chaotic knot of happenings. All of these occurrences are supposed to shape you into a wiser more experienced person. Many people can even pin point the exact moment in their life which was forever changed by a single event. When that event happens it becomes an unforgettable memory for you and teaches you a lesson that becomes one of the basic guidelines in your life. The event that forever changed me and was most significant to me was when I decided what I planned on doing for the rest of my life; choosing my major. I knew exactly what I would plan on doing my