Shannon+S

High school for me has been one of those times in your life that you don’t know how to explain, because of the craziest mix of its greatest moments and its most awful times. Each spring break all my family gathered to get away from it all, wishing we never had to go back and thinking it was all too much to handle. Little did I know I would be looking back now saying only things like, “We had so much fun that day,” or, “ That was hilarious!” Basically, I wouldn’t trade the past four years for anything.

Freshman year opened with a lot of excitement and hope. I remember being so eager for this new start, not because I wanted to leave my awkwardly tall, middle school-self behind, but because I’ve learned how change is such a valuable part of life. I discovered some of my best friends, realized some styles were just not cute, and in those faint memories actually in the classroom, really learned how to learn.

The one constant has been swimming. Swimming is an escape for me because of the way it strips life down to simply breathing and moving through the water. Out of the pool, my swim team became family, and the will we shared to win and to have fun resulted in four seasons that were the time of my life. We were lucky to have one of the greatest coaches ever, and to keep him a year longer than he intended. My enthusiasm for a final year on GH Swimming was rewarded with the “Coaches Award,” and a team that didn’t let Conferences get away un-conquered. Getting out of bed at 530 a.m. every morning and jumping into an ice cold pool before dawn during Christmas break often made me question my choice of sport. Yet the pre-meet bagels and post-meet bus parties really ended up banning those doubts.

Swimming, and life, came to a quick halt March of senior year. I had surgery on my foot, pinning me in bed for an entire week and introducing me to crutches for another seven. Many people say these kinds of things are life changing, and in a way, it was. But truthfully, I would say it’s life //enhancing// in that being in such a helpless position pushes you to open yourself up to others, ask for help, and allow them that chance to help. The assistance they’re willing to give, even to complete strangers, shows how much people care. It made me fall in love with the world again.

Now looking back, I remember times with friends at 80-degree Friday night football games, on the overheated dance floor at prom, and in the way-too-warm stands of the “Falcon Nest,” and I start to believe that the heat came from the fervor we shared for being young and making mistakes, for going crazy and laughing endlessly; it lived in the passion we had of never taking life too seriously.

**"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain." -Annonymous**

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