I was a terrible swimmer as a young child. I was afraid to go anywhere near the water, let alone in it, without my water wings. When I was seven years old, my mother signed me up for swimming lessons at the local pool. If it wasn't for the fact that my best friend was in them too, I would have never made it through the first class. To the surprise of my parents and me I came out of the first class with a smile on my face. I was actually eager for tomorrow to come, so I could enjoy another day of swimming lessons. I seemed to take to the water naturally and progressed rapidly. My teacher would often comment to my mother how well I was doing, and told her that I should be on a swim team. This gave me even more confidence and incentive to do my best. .
After I completed level one, I moved on to levels two and three, and completed them with just as much success. It turned out that I was an excellent swimmer. Not only was I no longer afraid of the water, I was now able to dive and do every stoke, including the butterfly! I felt like this was by far the greatest accomplishment I had achieved in life.
During those swimming lesson days, my mother would often say to me "When you"re sixteen you should be a lifeguard and teach kids how to swim." I loved the sound of that, what could be a more perfect way to spend my summer? As wonderful as that sounded, I never really thought it would happen. Although I was a good swimmer I just didn't have the self confidence and drive to become a lifeguard.
At the end of my junior year of high school, I somehow found it within myself to sign up for life saving classes at the YMCA. The class was eight weeks long and much more difficult for me then the swimming lessons I took as a child. At times I felt like quitting because it was so hard. In the end I made it through and got my lifeguard certification. I was so excited one would have thought I was graduating from Harvard or Yale!.