Today was my first Toastmasters speech. Now I did take speech in college; I am not new to public speaking, but it has definitely been a while. I joined Toastmasters because public speaking does not come naturally to me. Nerves, anxiety, and downright fear come naturally to me. So in hopes that being exposed to public speaking on a regular basis will allow me to become more comfortable in front of others, I joined Toastmasters. I delayed my first speech as long as I could, but today was the day. The Icebreaker speech is intended to inform the group about yourself so they can know and understand you better. What a perfect thing to include in a blog! So you are definitely getting the better end of the deal. A more organized, less shaky version to say the least. Now this definitely did not come out of my mouth in the same fashion, but this was my goal of what I wanted to present. Whether or not it all came across is another story, and as my post traumatic stress coping mechanisms have already erased this instance from my memory, I could not tell you what in the world I said up there. But anyways, here it is.

During my childhood summers, Saturday mornings were not filled with cartoons or day trips to the beach. Mine consisted of getting woken up at 6:30 in the morning by my dad to drive to McFarland, Wasco, and Shafter. All cities within Kern County, with a gas station count of less than three, one frosty freeze, and one swimming pool, our destination. My family was a swimming family. Swim practice twice a day during the week and the entire Saturday devoted to sitting in the sun to spend a total of two minutes in the pool. Though at the time, I never realized those hours sitting on a blue tarp playing card games would have had the impact on my life that swimming has had.

To give you a true understanding of who I am, I must start here. Swimming: It is the beginning of who I am right now. It has impacted my life in several ways: by helping me evolve as a person, by providing opportunities, and by introducing me to some wonderful people.

First, I will give you a brief background on the sport of swimming, for those who are not familiar with how it works. Swimming is very similar to track in that the practices are long and intended to build strength and technique, while the actual races can range from a short 50 meter sprint to a longer 500 to 1500 m distance swim. There are four strokes: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. The swim meets can last all day or all weekend depending on the number of swimmers involved and the events included in the meet. As a child I swam on a recreational team that swam only during the summer, but there are club teams that swim year round and are more competitive.

How could an activity as basic as this impact my life in the way it has? Growing up I was painfully shy. My dad loves to tell the story about when he signed me up for soccer and had to drag me out onto the field because I absolutely refused. The same applied to swimming. I clung to my mom until I had to eventually get in the pool. I was eight years old. The swim coach took me on under his wing, making it his personal goal to pull me out of my shell. To do this, he introduced me to the loudest person I have ever met to this day. Soon to follow was a group of friends that quickly accepted me and showed me that other people were not as scary as I’d imagined. We had sleepovers and were the best of friends during the summer. We all parted ways to go to different schools during the rest of the year, but for those summer months we were inseparable and knew that come April when swimming started up we would pick up just where we left off.

This swim coach was not only my swim coach when I was eight; he was the same coach I had for high school. By the end of my high school career, he had coached me for ten years. He taught me discipline and determination. I devoted everything to swimming, no matter how hurt or sick I was I would get in the pool. I would wake up at five in the morning to lift weights before school. I even stopped drinking soda, which for a high school student is pretty serious. During my last two years of high school he encouraged me to do something I never imagined myself doing: being a leader. I was the captain for my junior and senior years. I learned to lead by example and to care about and listen to others. Not only was I no longer a meek introvert, I was a leader.

Swimming spread throughout my life. My jobs growing up consisted of swim coach, lifeguard, swim instructor, and pool manager. The pool tended to follow me wherever I went. Swimming had given me the opportunity for many of my triumphs in life, and as school became boring in high school, my swimming goals kept me driven.

Now I do not swim. But swimming is still something I thank everyday. When I was thirteen years old, I met a short skinny blond-haired boy outside of my childhood swimming pool. He was miserable because his mom forced him to join the swim team for one summer. And boy, am I ever glad she did. We became friends, and almost ten years later would be married. Not only had swimming evolved me as a person, it introduced me to the most important person in my life. Later, when we have our own children, I hope I can teach them how to swim and hope it will enrich their lives as it has done to mine.

Tags: Public Speaking

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