<p>Hi guys, I'm new to this forum and I was wondering if you guys could proof read an essay I wrote. Thank you so much! I welcome all feedback, especially harsh critiques. I'd love a beating as weird as that sounds because I recognize that it still needs massive improvement. The UC statement is Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations. </p>
<p>“SWIMMERS, TO YOUR MARKS.” I slowly climbed up the steps, goggles tightly strapped over my eyes. Gathering my bearings, I balanced on the white chalky surface of the dive block, my hands outreached on the ledge. My quads tighten, my head braces between my shoulders. The world decelerates to a stop as the buzzer blares. I burst from the block, my arms arching out over my head. The cold water blasts into my face, shoving its way into my nostrils. I flinch, despite swimming for over ten years. I never got used to the shock of cold, but I do use it to my advantage. The cold calms the nerves while also releasing a massive amount of adrenaline. The clock has begun! Tick tock tick tock. My arms starts pounding against the surface, gyrating the water as I propelled forward. My head swivels out of the pool every twelve strokes, emerging to a world of chaos; I see coaches. teammates, and overbearing parents loudly cheering, urging me to go further faster. As I approach the wall of the first lap, I twist my legs into my body and feel my world turn upside down. My head instantly feels a bit dizzy, but my mind is already on autopilot. My feet erupt off the wall again as I headed toward my final lap. From there, it is just muscle memory as I strive to shave seconds off with each stroke. I reach the wall, bursting my head out of the water to see who got there first and how I did. Across the pool, I see my name with a time of 22.42 seconds. This is the world of a swimmer; this is my world.
This is what everyone sees. One could go to a swim meet, witness a dozen events, and see that they are all virtually identical. What an onlooker does not see is the aftermath of swimming a race. It could be of anger or delight. People have come out of pools crying, either of glee or of misery because they have succeeded or failed by milliseconds. The fact is, underneath each individual tinted pair of goggles is a world unknown to the rest.
As a competitive swimmer, you enter the water early in the morning at five to go swimming till seven and then again after school at three to five. All this time underwater gives you a lot of me time despite nonstop swimming. You think about your future races, how you are doing in school, whether or not that girl in English is interested in you and everything inbetween. But, despite how much it sounds like swimming is a bore, I love the sport. It taught me that nothing worth getting is easy to obtain. Though I recognize that I could never go professional, swimming prepares me to overcome any obstacle. It has made me confident in myself that I have what it takes to be successful, regardless of what I do.
While people often say that their goal is that they want to be rich or successful or make the world a better place, I am much more realistic. I recognize that as one person, with one lifetime, I can only do so much. My goal is to make each second matter and not waste any time. All this training matters not one bit if I do not give my best each and every breath. Because at the end of the day, at the end of each race, it is the milliseconds that count. </p>