I beleve

When was the last time that you improved on a special skill? If you come to practices every day and work hard you will get better, just like every other athlete out there I have heard my coaches tell me this a million times and it is still true. I work constantly at achieving my goals and I don’t stop until I reach them.

In school I have improved over the last couple of years. I am dyslexic, but I also have all A’s and B’s in school. Last year I was failing math and could barely understand anything, but then I started asking questions, doing extra practice, and making 100’s. I also have problems with my spelling because of my dyslexia, but I have improved over the last couple of months because I am no longer afraid to ask for help. I use my resources like spell check, my teachers, and my classmates for help. I no longer dread going to school because I am afraid that someone will make fun of me but I know that it does not really matter.

Over the last few years I have cut time in almost every race I have swum. I am still working on my backstroke even though I still look like a dying tortoise. I know that I’m improving and one day it will look like back stroke. This summer I hope to be able to improve on the fact that I never kick. I am just not in the habit of doing it and get in lots of trouble with my swim coaches because it slows me down. I can do this by going to practice every day and trying because that is the key to success.

One thing that I have been working on for a long time and never thought I would be able to do is swim a whole lap without taking a breath. I started to believe that it would never happen. One day, for the last ten minutes of practice we started working on breath control and things weren’t going so great. It was the fourth lap. Our coaches said, “Ok, know we’re going to do zero breaths” I thought “Yeah right, in their dreams.” I decided that I would give it one more chance before I totally gave up. I realized that I was one stroke away from the wall, so I closed my eyes and stretched. I reached as far as I could and I touched the wall. I thought my coach was going to fall into the pool.The truth is, maybe this lap was the best lap of my life. I had given up on myself but then I proved myself wrong. I think I will cherish this lap way after the time I forget about my first win or my first race, because I worked the hardest for my very first no breather. It was my goal and I achieved it.