Learning How to Swim

Learning something new can be a scary experience. One of the hardest things I've ever

had to do was learn how to swim. I was always afraid of the water, but I decided that swimming

was an important skill that I should learn. I also thought it would be good exercise and help me

to become physically stronger. What I didn't realize was that learning to swim would also make

me a more confident person.

New situations always made me a bit nervous, and my first swimming lesson was no

exception. After I changed into my bathing suit in the locker room, I stood timidly by the side of

the pool waiting for the teacher and other students to show up. After a couple of minutes the

teacher came over. She smiled and introduced herself, and two more students joined us.

Although they were both older than me, they didn't seem to be embarrassed about not knowing

how to swim. I began to feel more at ease.

We got into the pool, and the teacher had us put on brightly colored water rings to help us

stay afloat. One of the other students had already taken the beginning class once before, so she

took a kickboard and went splashing off by herself. Ashley, the other student, and I were told to

hold on to the side of the pool and shown how to kick for the breaststroke. One by one, the

teacher had us hold on to a kickboard while she pulled it through the water and we kicked.

Pretty soon Ashley was off doing this by herself. She was traveling at a fast speed across the

short end of the pool.

Things were not quite that easy for me, but the teacher was very patient. After