Each story starts with a beginning and without a beginning there is no plot, no climax, and no happy ending. An adventure cannot begin without that first initial step and a goal cannot be reached without a starting plan. The humble beginning is where the journey begins and where the story starts to enfold. My journey as a competitive swimmer did not begin at the highly competitive team that I ended up on. My journey started in my grandparents pool when I was three years old and I took my first cautious step off of the pool stairs and into the deep, scary four foot area of the pool. It began when I decided to take swimming lessons in my kindergarten teacher's pool for a week in the summer. It was at that pool I learned the basics of swimming.
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The competition was stricter, the practices were longer and harder, and the pressure was higher. I was pushing myself to be the best I could be however I went too far. I began to feel nauseated and weak all the time. Simple tasks such as climbing stairs or walking through the halls at school became difficult. No amount of sleep could fix the deep fatigue I felt. My energy was gone and I began to stop eating because I felt so sick. I kept swimming and my weight began to drop. My mom eventually took me to the doctor where I was told that I was severely malnourished. I was basically prescribed a lot of Gatorade and Twix Bars to overcome this developing eating disorder. I was facing this “Dragon Fight” with no idea as to what I was doing. I did not try to do this to myself and never knew that burning more calories than I ate could have such a negative impact on my life. However with time, lots of food, and patience, I began to feel better. Eating disorders are not something that ever really go away and relapses occur but I better know how to handle them now and how to prevent them as much as possible. This marked my “Dragon Fight” because this issue presented problems that I had to learn to cope with and presented many challenges I had to …show more content…
We did this not only as a team, but also for ourselves. This proved to ourselves what we are capable of. I reached so many limits, met goals, and did the impossible in so many ways. I learned how to get up at five in the morning to get in the icy water in order to improve. While my competitors were sleeping, my team and I were getting ahead of them. I learned that if you want something done you have to do put forth the effort to do so. Swimming is an individual sport. It is just you representing your team in the pool when it’s your race. If you want to win you have to want the journey to get there. Winning is not handed to you on a gold platter. Finding out who I am and what I live for is what I learned from swimming. This led me to my “Goal” when I discovered who I am as a competitive swimmer and found the self motivation to do
The competition was stricter, the practices were longer and harder, and the pressure was higher. I was pushing myself to be the best I could be however I went too far. I began to feel nauseated and weak all the time. Simple tasks such as climbing stairs or walking through the halls at school became difficult. No amount of sleep could fix the deep fatigue I felt. My energy was gone and I began to stop eating because I felt so sick. I kept swimming and my weight began to drop. My mom eventually took me to the doctor where I was told that I was severely malnourished. I was basically prescribed a lot of Gatorade and Twix Bars to overcome this developing eating disorder. I was facing this “Dragon Fight” with no idea as to what I was doing. I did not try to do this to myself and never knew that burning more calories than I ate could have such a negative impact on my life. However with time, lots of food, and patience, I began to feel better. Eating disorders are not something that ever really go away and relapses occur but I better know how to handle them now and how to prevent them as much as possible. This marked my “Dragon Fight” because this issue presented problems that I had to learn to cope with and presented many challenges I had to …show more content…
We did this not only as a team, but also for ourselves. This proved to ourselves what we are capable of. I reached so many limits, met goals, and did the impossible in so many ways. I learned how to get up at five in the morning to get in the icy water in order to improve. While my competitors were sleeping, my team and I were getting ahead of them. I learned that if you want something done you have to do put forth the effort to do so. Swimming is an individual sport. It is just you representing your team in the pool when it’s your race. If you want to win you have to want the journey to get there. Winning is not handed to you on a gold platter. Finding out who I am and what I live for is what I learned from swimming. This led me to my “Goal” when I discovered who I am as a competitive swimmer and found the self motivation to do