As I stood at the podium, looking down at the words of my speech, my final captain speech at my final sports banquet of my high school career, I lost it. The tears started streaming, and as I laughed it off to divert the attention from my emotional wreck, I couldn't help but to smile.
This was the cumulation of everything that I had worked for the past three years. The tears, the hurting muscles, the laughter, the failure, and the success. Looking down the line of 40 some odd young women standing by my side, tearing up along with me, I realized that I made the right decision the day I stepped into the chlorine ridden locker room of the North Haven Pool. When I suited up for all of those meets, the fear and anxiety was worth it. The bruised knees from getting out of the pool were a badge of camaraderie, worn proudly throughout the season. The early morning struggle to jump into the chilled pool every Saturday and Sunday were worth the goosebumps.
While I was leaving behind this part of my life, I knew that the team will without a doubt become stronger and better, with captains that will continue the values of hard work and determination. The girls were those that would work hard, and push through the pain to reach the final end product of all the endorphins releasing the one second they hit the touchpad before the others in the water.
This was my life the past three years. The pool, with it's huge windows streaming the morning sunlight on the rippled water, as we moved through the water as a team. The wet blue tile, as we slipped and slided around, laughing and dancing to the blocks. Oh and the blocks, where every emotion ran through each of our heads as we waiting for the dreaded words, "Take your mark ..."
But it ended at that podium. It was the final part, the final goodbye. And it was worth all of the struggle, the laughs, and the tears. So as I cried saying my last goodbyes as a captain, I said hello to the new part of my life, and opened the door for the team's next season to begin.
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