Personal Narrative

Failure. Though even the mere mention of the word may evoke disconcerting thoughts, at some point, everyone must stare failure in the face. In certain cases, not living up to a particular standard can affect a person’s entire life. For a typical teenager, however, these misfortunes often occur on a much smaller scale, perhaps failing a math test or losing a friend. Personally, I experienced one of my most heartbreaking failures during the swimming season of my junior year of high school. After competing on my local high school’s swim team for two years, my goal in eleventh grade was to qualify for a district-wide swim meet at the end of the season. My race times closely aligned with the qualifying times, and after months of training, I wholeheartedly

Throughout all aspects of my life—at home, in school, and in sports—I like to have control of what happens around me. Nonetheless, I came to realize I cannot directly manipulate every event in my life, but I can always control how I react to it. When I watched my dream of qualifying for districts fall apart before my eyes, I had two choices. I could either relinquish my goals, or I could maintain a positive attitude and continue to work hard, even in the face of adversity. Despite the bleakness of the situation, I knew sulking and staying upset would accomplish nothing. Therefore, I resolved to continue to attend practice at six o’clock in the morning, to exercise over the summer, and to not let the disappointment of my junior year define the outcome of my senior year. Although I certainly experienced a tremendous amount of disappointment, I learned to control my own reactions to unfortunate situations and optimistically move on in my athletic

From the beginning of November to the end of February, I spent over twenty hours each week putting all of my effort into becoming a better swimmer. Oftentimes, I jumped into the pool first and climbed out last. With the energy I poured into practicing, I assumed I would easily achieve my goal. However, when my dream did not come to fruition, I realized not all benefits of hard work relate to goals. After exerting tremendous amounts of effort all season long, working hard taught me the true meaning of perseverance—to keep pressing forward even when all of the circumstances surrounding me suggest I do otherwise. To persist in all situations means I must consistently push myself in practice no matter what, attending workouts every morning and afternoon because I know it will shape me into a better swimmer. Even though I cannot predict what the future holds for me this upcoming season, I have still committed to diligently attend practice and set a good example for the underclassmen. Through the experience of not qualifying for districts, I determined that hard work never goes to waste, and that even in the direst situations, there are always benefits to not giving