Learning Resilience by Zackary

Learning Resilience by Zackary - July 2021 Scholarship Essay

At my high school, you were required to take one semester of gym to graduate. However, students were given the option to participate in a sport and their gym requirement would be waived. I did not particularly care for the gym classes I had previously taken in middle school, so I decided I would try to participate in a sport. Unfortunately, I am not very athletic. I knew there was a very low chance I would be able to make a team for which you had to try out for, so I decided to participate in one of the only sports my school offered that did not require a tryout. I chose swimming.

I quickly learned that swimming is very physically exhausting, and as someone who was out of shape, it was extremely difficult. To pair with the physical exertion swimming required of me, practices were at 5 AM. I had to learn a lot of new skills because I had never done competitive swimming before. I had never even watched it! I had to learn how to dive, do the four strokes, and do flip turns, and I even had to learn how to breathe differently. It was extremely difficult for me both physically and mentally. I had to run in both freezing and incredibly hot temperatures, I had to put my body through more than I had ever done so previously, and I had to do all of this very early in the morning. On top of all that, I struggled immensely with body dysmorphia and my weight and body hair were things I was extremely insecure about and were both broadcasted through swimsuits. I also had self-harm scars that I was unable to hide with my swimsuit, and they made me feel very self-conscious.

There were several times throughout my time on the swim team I considered quitting. My friend had joined the team when I did, and she quit almost two weeks after the season began because she could not do the early mornings. I only had one other friend on the team, and as the slowest swimmer, I felt a bit out of place. However, my coach and other teammates were my biggest cheerleaders and helped push me to do my best. I acquired a goal that I believed was realistic for my ability, and I used that to push myself to stay on the team. I determined every meet I did, I would not let myself get dead last, and I determined I was going to decrease my 50m freestyle time as much as I could by the end of the season. Once the end of the season came around, I had decreased my time by 20 seconds and never once got last at a meet. I was so proud of myself for sticking with it.

这看起来可能并没有很大的成就,但我think my resilience through it all is impressive. Dedicating my time to something, and not giving up are things I struggle with, and being able to stay on a sports team the entire school year, especially a sport as difficult as swimming was, is a very big achievement for me. Bouncing off of that experience, being on the swim team helped me learn that I can do anything I put my mind to. I have learned that I can push myself past any superficial limits I have placed on myself. I hope to achieve a lot in the future, and my experience being on the swim team taught me that I can do it. Regardless of how hard it is, I can do anything I put my mind to.