I spend almost 15 hours a week in the water. I wake up at 5 in the morning before school to drag myself out of bed, into my car, to throw myself into North’s freezing cold pool. I feel like a zombie who’s hunger is to go back to bed. As much as I hate waking up, it does get me ready for the day ahead of me. Swimming in the mornings wakes up both my mind and my body for the upcoming school day. That isn’t the only activity in my day either. After school, I get ready to do it all again. I put on my suit, cap and goggles to jump into the pool yet again. We don’t just practice twice a day either. Roughly two times a week my team competes against neighboring schools in the water where we pour all of our energy into beating our competition.
I don’t just spend this much time in the water, I also spend it with my team. Without the seemingly endless time I spend at Naperville North’s pool, I would also lose some of my best friends. It is all too easy to get caught up in how tired I get or how drained I feel after a day of practice, to complain about the set, to want to do anything but jumping into the water but I often forget how amazing it is to spend so much time with some of the best people in my life. Not only do I spend time with all these people but there are so many different kinds of people I get to meet. I talked to so many people I would not have been able to get to know without spending all this time at Naperville North and at swim meets.
Negativity easily can creep into our lives. Ever heard that saying “An optimist sees the glass half full and the pessimist see the glass half empty”? It is easy to dismiss something so cliche but this saying does hold some substantial value. There are two or more sides to everything. For example, I often take for granted the opportunities that my swimming career as provided me with. We as a whole, especially this generation, need to look at how lucky we are to have what we have. This zombie-like state I get in every morning allows me to be happy and energetic at school. The sets I so often complain about provide me with the skills to make me faster. The time I spend in the water provides me the crucial skill of time management. Why do we enjoy being negative so much? Does it give us something to talk about? Something to relate over? Well, if this is the case, what is wrong with doing all of this over the positives we have in our lives? Replacing this negativity will not only provide a healthier lifestyle but will also allow others to feel comfortable in talking about things that excite them.
