Hi

When I was 12 my class took a trip swimming. One of the students didn't know how to swim and still entered the deep end. At first we all thought he was clowning around like usual but then we suddenly realized he was drowning. Myself and one other student jumped in to help withjout knowing anything about lifesaving. When we reached him he used us as buoys and I found myself in the position of the drowning one. I panicked and flailed about terrified. The strangest thing happened. Sudden calm came over me in an instant like turning on a light switch, the terror went from me in the snap of a finger. On my third trip under, lungs taking a full inhale of water, the only thought I had was how my cousin had died just this way recently and I was going to meet him. Then I thought of my dad and how sad he'd be.

The teacher finally arrrived and pulled the drowning boy from on top of me, leaving me behind and I struggled to the side and coughed up water.

I'll never forget how such complete terror had changed to complete calm in just one moment like that.

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but rising every time we fall." Confucius