Swimming

My parents always believed that I should be comfortable in and around water, as such they taught me how to swim, and eventually I started swimming for a club team in my home town. While training with the club team I would achieve many milestones including competing in Florida for the 18 and under National Championships. I swam the 100 butterfly, 200 butterfly, as well as the 50, 100, and sometimes 200 freestyle. I ended up swimming competitively for 14 years, eventually earning a spot on the University of Hawaii Swim and Dive program.

While training on the University of Hawaii Swim Team our practice time per week would often be at least 20 hours a week with more hours being optional for attendance. All this while still being expected to maintain your studies just as any other student would. Eventually, after switching majors, I found that I needed more time to work on my studies and thus had to quit the team to progress my degree properly.

During swimming I learned the fruits of dedication and hard work over a long period of time. Often times, I would train for 5-6 months for a single championship meet that I was going to travel to. Swimming also taught me that most things in life are achievable through effort. It may take a long time and significant effort on a daily basis but through hard work you can accomplish your goals and then some!