Learning something new can be a confronting experience but it can also be meaningful. One of the hardest things I’ve ever discovered to do was learn how to swim. When I was 5 years old, I was always scared of the water, but my parents decided that swimming is an important skill that I should learn. They also thought it would be good exercise and help me to become physically stronger since I’m a weak person and I was sick all the time when I was a kid.
New discoveries can be challenging and lead to anxiety, and my first swimming lessons were no exception. After my mum helped me changed into my swimmers in the locker room, I was waiting by the side of the pool for the swimming teacher and other students to turn up. When the swimming teacher finally turned up with a friendly smile she then introduced herself to the students and the parents.
After doing some warm up exercise we then had to go into the pool, I remember that I was crying so badly that people were able to hear me crying from the other side of the pool. The teacher came over to me and put on the cutest armbands which are shaped as elephants. When I got into the pool I was told to hold on to the side of the pool and I was shown how to do the freestyle kick. After kicking for around 10 minutes, the swimming teacher gave me a kick board while she pulled it through the water when I kick it. I was frightened from the beginning since I thought the teacher will let her hands off the board but after a few kicks, I felt comfortable kicking by myself. Pretty soon I was able to swim across the short end of the pool by myself with the help of armbands, kickboard and, of course, the teacher.
Things were not easy for me from the beginning, but the teacher was very patient. After a few weeks, I was able to swim in the pool by myself comfortably with the teacher’s help. The teacher then taught me how to do the arm strokes of freestyle. Well now I have two things to focus on, my arms and legs. I felt uncoordinated...