Personal Narrative: Islanders Aquatics

Thank you guys for everything you have done to make me the player the I am today. I really appreciate all of the times you guys would talk to me and give me advice when I was down and had lost confidence in myself. I appreciate all of the times when you were hard on me for not doing what I was supposed to do or when I wasn’t giving maximum effort. Thank you for all of the time you have put in to make the team better and to prepare us for high school. Overall I don’t know where I’d be at basketball terms without you guys, I just know I wouldn’t be nearly as good of a player as I am today if I didn’t have you guys as my coaches. Thank you for everything you guys have done for the team and

For every high school kid out there or college player, there is greatness in being the kind of teammate who truly wants to be part of a team. Everyone wants to be the reason they winning or losing. Every single one of us wants to be that person. But there are special moments that come from a shared commitment to play a role, while doing it together. That's what you will remember. Not your stats or your prestige, but the relationships and the achievement that you created through a group. It's hard to do, but there's great joy in

That’s a wrap. The past 5 years have been an incredible journey and it saddens me to see it end. These ladies developed a lot this season and they know the journey ahead is filled with promise. I am so proud of these young athletes. Thank you to each one of my players. The memories made on an off the court will carry on with me forever. Thank you, parents, for entrusting me to coach you all have been nothing short of supportive and outstanding. Thank you, GHS, Administration, Board Members, Coaches for giving me the opportunity to do what I love! I can’t wait to see what the future of GHS Volleyball holds.

I used to be the type of person that needed my life planned out; I needed a routine or a schedule. I was going on an amazing trip to Catalina Island with my closest friends. We had a plan; take a bus to LA and get on a boat that would take us to Catalina from there. When we arrived to LA the weather was so bad we couldn't get on the boat. We had to wait until the next day. Having to go off schedule we ended up making more memories, we went to a huge aquarium and spent the night on a boat. After that trip I realized things happen and you need to be willing to make the best of things or you will not have the opportunity for new experiences.

To everyone who marched their guts out on our dirt patch field this following season; congrats. I'm glad I had the chance of sharing the best moments of my life with these amazing people. Seniors, I wish you guys all the best of luck in the next chapter of your life. I'm happy I had the privilege of marching beside you guys for the very last time. I'll miss you

I am watching the Rio Olympics freestyle finals for women. My eyes are glued to the screen, and I can not seem to take them off. Of who? I do not know, but she is way ahead of the others. I wait until the race is over, and she wins. But, who is she?

This is about the time that I saw what it’s like underwater. One day during summer I went to the pool with my grandma and 2 cousins, Sidney and Trevor. When we got to the pool I changed into my suit and went over to the Leisure Pool to start swimming. I got in the pool and swam around for a little bit until I got bored of being in the water. I wanted to leave.

Having focused on competitive swimming since the age of nine, I continued my dedication for the sport as part of Caltech’s Division III NCAA Swim team that competes in the SCIAC division. Now as a swimmer and full-time student, my experiences juggling school and sports as well as the lessons I have learned in swimming have shaped

It was a dark night, the fog was like cotton, along the sea any misstep could bring your death, my tripulation and i were going to burma, one of the most poor countries, to bring food, supplies and medicines, we sailed from hawaii and went west, at that moment we were in the middle of the north pacific ocean, almost all my crew was asleep, except me and a couple that was cleaning the ship,in the dead of night.

I wanna thank my coach from Cross Country, Mr. Fedele, a very funny and motivational coach during my season with him, his workouts and his support on every race made me break my personal time for 3 miles in which now consists of 16:42 minutes and I'm looking forward to improve next year, my senior year in which unfortunately would be my last as I would be planning to go to college. My AVID teacher in which was also my Algebra 1 teacher during my freshman year in which I’m also thankful to have because of her I was able to join AVID and also was able to open to new experiences such as community service, college field trips to explore and find interest in them, and finally to create more confidence within me in order to make an interview with a random person to create that confidence. My U.S. History teacher Mr. Sloan who made me learn more in his class and gain my attention to learn in his class by making his class interesting to me as well to the other students while telling us stories, jokes, or events to compare with his lessons and make us remember them as a funny moment but most importantly teach us I appreciate the time he takes to make each one of us understand the lesson he teaches

To my surprise I won the contest, the contest everyone was talking about. It included a trip to a mysterious island, Turtle Island. No one knew what was so special about the island because the winners of the contest in the past were required to sign a contract to guarantee they wouldn’t tell anyone about what made the island so special. No one really knew anything about the island other than the fact that they wanted to find out what was on it. The letter I received the day before told me to meet at a pier about 2 hours away from my house. When I got to the pier the other 9 contestants were getting into the boat. About 30 minutes into the boat ride another contestant pointed out 3 huge and round rocks with trees, grass, buildings, water parks,

I used to never understand why people gave me so much attention. It was always strange. On my swim and track team, I would constantly hear “What was Bryant’s time?” or “How did Bryant do?”. Even during swim practices, people wanted to either swim against or with me. At swim meets my teammates would cheer me on, toes hanging off the side of the pool, almost every race I swam. At track meets a crowd would always anticipate my arrival by the finish line. In school, whenever my hand flies to the air, conversations cease to a halt. Silence fills the air, and everyone is left waiting for my response. I can tell that my peers are waiting in anticipation for my answer. In the classroom, people were curious of my contribution to the discussion. Even

It’s the year 3028. Most of the ocean has been explored, mermaids were found. Most humans don’t know it, but the apocalypse has happened; it involves kids and phones. Also, pigs can fly. Aliens haven’t invaded...yet. My human name is Madison Montgomery and I call myself a female. I don’t exactly remember how I came to be, but I know i'm different. They tell me that I was grown in a lab; I believe them. I remember my home being a petri dish, until I grew too big for that. I remember having my cartilage skeleton being pieced together and learning how to control it.

To be on the special Olympic teams you must have a mental disorder, but many people who have physical disorders yearn to belong to a team; however, special Olympics forces them to join the traditional teams. This has forced him to bond with other swimmers, coaches, and others that have surrounded him. He is the best that he can be at any point. He has given me the motivation to be not only be the best that I can be in the pool, but also when I am out of the

Swimming has been a part of my life since I was six years old, and it has only become a bigger part of my life as I got older. Interestingly enough, I hated swimming during the first couple years and if it wasn’t for my parents forcing me to stick with it, I would have quit. But, I started to grow an appreciation for the sport as I made some of my best friends through my team and having a lot of fun competing in meets. Today, I have made my best friends through swimming and have had some of my greatest memories through competitions such as the state meet my senior year when my team won the state meet. My team got a National record and numerous state records and it was one of the greatest moment of my life and is a big reason why I decided to continue my swim career in college. During my recruiting trip to Miami, I knew almost instantly that it was the place for me. The swim team was very close-knit and I knew it was an environment where I could continue to make some of my closest friends. The coaches and facilities proved to me that this was a team that was