Personal Narrative of Learning to Swim

When I Learned To Swim

        I will never forget the day that my mother and father old me that they signed me up for swimming lessons. I was overwhelmed with feelings of excitement, and fear. It was the summer of my 5th grade school year and all my other friends that I had could already swim with no assistance needed, but me on the other hand, not so much. I happened to have a great fear of water, and when I say that I had a great fear of water, I had a GREAT fear of water. But, I had no choice, I had to learn to swim.

        The first swim lesson was a week after my parents told me that they had signed me up, so I was unprepared. I spent the next week building up my confidence, telling myself that I would have no problems learning how to swim. But every time I would finally start getting confident, the fear I had for water would drown all of the confidence out and I would return to the same state I was in before, fearful of water. No one understood why I was scared of water, and honestly, I didn't even know why I was scared of water. The thought of getting in and sinking like a rock scared me the most I guess.

        The whole concept of swimming didn't really make much sense to me back then. My idea of swimming was to get in the water, and kick and flail my arms everywhere. I honestly had no idea what to expect when it would be time for my first lesson. I wondered to myself, ”Are all the other kids as scared as I am?” then I told myself that I was just being a big baby and I had to suck it up. Even though I kept telling myself that I was just over reacting, I had trouble with accepting the fact that I was over reacting! I had trouble sleeping the days before the first lesson, but it was coming, and I was terrified.

        On the day of the first swimming lesson, I didn't even want to get out of my bed when I woke up. I had to face it, my greatest fear, the thing I had been avoiding my entire 10 year old life. As I was getting dressed, I noticed that my mother had bought me some brand new swimming trunks that I personally thought were totally awesome, so that had made me feel a little better, but nothing seemed to ease my mind. Driving to the local YMCA, I was a nervous wreck. I had no idea what was going to happen, and I had no idea what I was going to do. As we pulled into the parking lot, I noticed all the other kids my age stepping out of their cars, the looks on their faces were the same as mine.

        As I stepped into the massive YMCA building, an overwhelming sound of child's laughter and splashing water had filled my ears. I had made my way to the pool that the lesson was being held in and as I saw the water, I gripped my mothers hand tightly. All of the other kids that were signed up for the lesson stared at me as I walked past them, which made me even more nervous than I already was. It was finally time for me to face my biggest fear. The teacher of the lesson called everyone into the water, and at that moment I was overwhelmed with a powerful feeling of fear. I had no choice, I put my right foot into the water first, then slowly but surely my left foot as well. I began walking down the stairs into the shallow end of the pool and I was terrified. I had made it to the bottom of the steps and I was now completely in the pool, I had made it this far and I wasn't stopping now.