I Think I Can

I've spent much of the last 1.5 years of my life in the same building, often the same room (Tanner W208 to be exact). So last semester I decided that I needed to expand my world beyond excel sheets, business books and, more importantly, beyond the Tanner Building. And expand I did.

I started by taking ballet. I was quite excited about doing plies, learning how to leap more gracefully and improving my posture. Excited, that is, until I discovered that it required me donning some pink tights and a black leotard. I nearly dropped the class but then decided it was just part of the experience and I was going to embrace it. Well, I may have embraced the experience but the tights and leotard really never took a liking to me. Despite all of that, I loved it. So much, in fact, that I decided to branch out yet again.

Enter swimming class. Growing up I never had swimming lessons. I take that back. Becca (my sister) taught me how to back float and I think my brothers were trying to teach me how to swim when they threw me in the deep end of the pool. Thankfully I learned the back float before the latter took place. I still suspect Becca knew what was coming and taught me the back float so I wouldn't drown. I soon learned how to doggy paddle. This evolved into a rather awkward and inefficient stroke of my very own that has gotten me by all these years. Truth is, I love swimming. I love the smell of chlorine and being in the water. So, I thought it a good time to take a swimming class.

Day 1: Freestyle. You mean you have to put your face in the water and only breathe every few strokes? Gulp.

Day 2: Turning. Do a flip in the water and push off from the wall. Easy, right? I have to confess that something in me really believed that I could do a simple flip and I was going to nail this maneuver. Turns out, I can't. The poor teacher saw me struggling and came to help. I was not only embarrassed that I couldn't do a flip but also that I was keeping him from helping everyone else. I tried to let him off the hook, "I promise I'll practice this later," I said. Didn't work. He insisted I try to go deeper in the water. Then he told me to keep my chin down. Then he told me to try using the line on the bottom of the pool to keep me straight. After inhaling a couple of gallons of water and several rounds of pleading we were still at it. Finally he told me to just do a handstand in the water. I was skeptical but went down. Then my feet flipped STRAIGHT over my head and I popped up facing the right direction. Breakthrough!

Day 3: Butterfly kick. This should be fun. We sat on the side of the pool and practiced the technique. I have to confess, I was really good. Then we got in the water. Miraculously, Melinda can propel herself BACKWARDS while doing a forward butterfly kick. It's pretty amazing. I sucked up my pride (as if I had any left) and asked the teacher what I was doing wrong. After watching me kick several times he said, "your form is really good." So why am I somehow moving backward? It baffled even him. With some work I am happy to report that I can now move forward. I just haven't yet figured out the breathing thing.

Day 4, 5, 6: Breast stroke, dolphin kick, misc drills. I'm improving. Far from great, but improving.

Moral of the story: get out of your comfort zone and don't be afraid of looking like an idiot. It might be fun.